


My Foxy British Bride

by Cazuki



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Fluff, Human Names, Hurt/Comfort, Kitsune, M/M, Mystery in parts, Mystical Creatures AU, Russia is scary as all hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2018-03-01 11:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 43,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2770850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cazuki/pseuds/Cazuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alfred was six years old he met an imaginary friend in the woods beside his home. When he was seven, he had to move away to America, leaving Arthur behind but promising they would marry when they grew up. Twenty years later and many things have changed. But, with Alfred coming back to Britain, will he remember the promise he made? Rated Explicit for later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Old Letter

Dear Me from the future,

If you are reading this then either you have remembered or you have found this by accident and are probably ~~confussed~~ confused about this.

My name is Alfred Jones, though my friends call me Alfie. I am seven years old and in a few days I will be moving away from my house in ~~Engwand England~~ Britain with my Papa to live with my Mama and brother in Ahmerika ~~(did I spell that wrong?)~~.

I'm excited about seeing my brother, who I've never met because Papa said Mama wanted to work in Ahmerika and took him there and left us here to sell the house. My Papa is a really nice Papa, he's got a beard and long ~~yellow~~ blond hair and speaks in a weird accent which makes me laugh when he laughs that 'honhonhon' laugh of his. I don't know much about Mama, though I've heard she is very nice too. I'm so excited I can't stop bouncing everywhere!

~~What was I meant to be writing again?~~

Oh, right!

Me from the future. I don't know how many years it has been since I've written this letter to yo- myself? You probably forgot a lot of things about our old home, like how the floor of your room creaked whenever you walked on it and how everything looked so old and ~~weird (wired? Werid?)~~ odd and yet you felt strange in any place that wasn't like it. You might have even forgotten the forest that is next door to our home! ~~(It's called Flying Bunny Forest, by the way!)~~ But, there is one thing you shouldn't forget and that person is a boy named –

"Arthur Kirkland…" Alfred mumbled as he read the name out loud to himself.

* * *

The letter he held in his hands was old, very old, in fact, it was twenty years old. The edges of the paper had yellowed slightly over the years and the writing itself was in no better condition, slightly faded and hard to read with the multiple crossings out, random notes off to the side and ink blots where he had been careless. He smiled, his eyes going slightly hazy as he remembered those times. Things had been simpler, back then. All Alfred had to worry about then was getting his homework in on time and not getting shouted at by his teachers at school and, probably most prominent of all, meeting his imaginary friend in the forest next to their home.

He remembered what the other looked like, if only vaguely. He'd been about his age, and was a boy like Alfred was. He'd had sandy blond hair which was always dirty and ruffled. He would have worn old rags as clothing, such as old t-shirts and trousers that Alfred had previously worn and took to the young boy to wear, as he had no clothing of his own. His name, he remembered, was Arthur Kirkland. Pretty normal, right? Well, it would have been if he didn't have fox ears and a tail.

His ears were placed on top of his head, among the tufts of hair and were coloured much the same, with a little white fur at their tips. His tail had been long and fluffy and Alfred could remember in the winter months he had spent with Arthur, that tail wrapping around him and the white fur on the end of it ticking his nose as he tried not to shiver.

He remembered the day they met, when his Dad had taken him out to the forest to explore when he was six and had lost him partway through, leaving Alfred alone in the dark, cold and scary forest at night. That was when he'd first met Arthur, a small fox boy who approached him as if Alfred were some threat to him. His dad, Francis, had found him sometime after, apparently laying against a tree and sleeping like a baby, alone.

"Alfred?"

Alfred could even remember his voice, how it had been so quiet and soothing and so… British.

" _Alfred_."

It was sad that the other had only been imaginary. Especially considering the promise he made to him the night before he moved away twenty years ago.

"Alfie! Hey, wake up you dunce!"

Alfred felt himself jerk back into reality as he was shaken rather roughly by the person sitting in the seat next to him. Alfred looked to his left to meet eyes with the brother he had been so excited to meet twenty years ago.

"I wasn't asleep Matthew."

He said as he pushed his brother off and straightened himself.

"You were pretty damn close to it, poser." The other said, slyly smirking to himself, proud at having ruffled his older brother's feathers.

This man was Alfred's younger brother, Matthew Jones, though he preferred to use their mother's maiden name, Williams. He explained that the name made him feel closer to his French heritage but Alfred wondered if his brother just wanted to disassociate himself from the family. Out of the two brothers, Matthew had undoubtedly taken a lot from Dad's genes, with his silky blond hair, cute looks and skills with other languages, namely French.

Sadly, he'd taken some of Francis' bad traits too, like his flirty disposition, dry sense of humour and-

"Were you thinking about a girl again? Seriously dude, go and get a hooker and get laid already. You're already twenty-seven!"

-innate lack of shame.

Alfred felt himself bolt up from his plane seat. He hadn't noticed his seat buckle was still on, so he was surprised when it pulled him back down, winding him for a short moment. He turned to his brother and growled slightly, clutching his abdomen as he spoke.

"Will you stop saying stuff like that in public places, you idiot!"

It had been twenty years since Alfred had moved to America and in those twenty years, many things had changed. He'd grown up, for one thing. He wasn't a cry-baby anymore who needed an imaginary friend to comfort him at night. His personality had changed as well. He'd developed into a fine, young and serious man with an acute mind and a dry wit. He'd also gotten a job, and a good one at that, as a manager for an international advertising company which dealt in everything from videogames to fashion statements.

You may be wondering why Alfred, now a highly competent business man, was on his way to England with his brother. Well, to put it simply, he was moving for his job. You see, the people that Alfred managed came from all around the world, though most of them had collected in England and since it was rather hard to manage a culturally diverse group in England from the states, Alfred had been sent over with his secretary, Matthew, to watch over them.

He'd found the old letter written by his seven year old self while he had been packing his stuff and had taken it with him on the flight, trying to hide it from his brother who, if he saw the contents, would probably die of laughter.

"Yeah, whatever, poser." Matthew continued, apparently not caring about the other passengers who glared at him from across the aisle. In fact, he loved it and so he presented another of his bad traits. Being an attention whore, in more ways than one.

Alfred face-palmed.

"Brother, would you please try and at least _act_ professional, you're coming to England with me as my secretary."

Matthew looked back at him with a grin and before Alfred could think of moving away, Matthew kissed his brother on the cheek on both sides. A common greeting for the other, though Matthew knew that people would take it the wrong way. Matthew put on his best impression of a smooth and seductive tone.

"Oh, _dear_ brother of mine, you must know that I _always_ act professional. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you _too_ much."

Alfred blushed deeply for a moment, frozen before he realized what the other had done and felt an overpowering need to sock his 'dear brother' in the jaw. The flight continued much like this, the letter and its contents forgotten as the two brothers argued for the rest of the ensuing flight until the buckle light came on and they came in for a landing at Heathrow Airport, where they would be taken to their new home to live together for god knows how long.

* * *

In the taxi, as they drove through the night, Alfred was leaning on his hand and looking out the window. His brother, affected by jet-lag, slept on his shoulder, snoring loudly and almost drooling on him.

As the night zoomed by, the moon covered by the branches of the almost interlocking trees, Alfred couldn't help but feel anxious.

_I wonder how much this place has changed since I was here… I wonder how much… he's changed?_

Alfred shook his head slightly, again putting the impossible though out of his mind. He sighed lightly, before he dropped off as well, his mind filled with warm images of a certain imaginary friend's smile.

Meanwhile, in the dead of night, in the deepest, darkest parts of an old and familiar forest. A man with emerald green eyes laid awake at the side of a small pool of rainwater. The man smiled.

"He's back."


	2. Homecoming

By the time they arrived at their destination, the sun was already rising and the sky had turned a pale shade of red. Alfred was awoken by the stopping of the taxi and looked at the driver to see him looking back at him, making a hand symbol which asked for his due payment. Alfred stretched himself, shifting his brother off his shoulder and onto the taxi seat as he dug around in his pockets pulling out his black leather wallet. He pulled out the required sum as well as a little extra for dealing with his brother's loud snoring and handed it to the driver. He opened his door, climbing out before slamming it shut, which finally seemed to awaken his brother from his comatose state.

"Here already?" Matthew said as he got out of the taxi and went to the boot to pick up his suitcase, stretching and popping his muscles as he did so.

"You've been sleeping for six hours, Matthew." Alfred responded dryly as he opened the boot and took out a suitcase and briefcase, one of which housed some clothes and other things and one which he used for business. The letter was hidden inside the latter of the two.

"Six hours, dude that's not nearly enough time, a hottie like me has gotta have his beauty sleep, eh?" Matthew responded, adept at ignoring his brother's attempts at outwitting him. "Oh, and by the way," he continued, suddenly right up in his brother's face, licking his lips as his almost purple eyes flared with lust, "you wouldn't mind calling me _Mattie_ , would you?"

Matthew suddenly felt something punch him dangerously close to his crotch and he doubled over, looking up at his brother, whose eyes were filled with anger while his face was as bright red as a Christmas tree light.

"Hah," Matthew half-gasped and half-said as he tried to recover, winded by the blow "Such a virgin."

"Shut up!" Alfred said, leaving Matthew to get up and grab his own cases. Matthew, when he'd sufficiently recovered enough to stand up without falling down, closed the boot and watched the driver go off into the distance, down an old road which weaved in and out of the forest, quietly scheming as to how to get his 'dear older brother' back for almost depriving him of his reproductive system.

Meanwhile, Alfred was looking at the place where they would be staying, smiling. The team that Alfred would be managing was located in the more rural parts of Britain, his higher ups saying it worked better for productivity to work in an environment which most cultures knew about, and so, when Alfred had been given the order to move, he had just so happened to get the one place he thought he would never see again.

In front of him was the cottage he had left twenty years ago. Most of it was the same as it had been back then, though slightly worse for wear. The walls were still a warm cream, though the paint had discoloured in places and in others seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving only the white stone behind. The roof, once excellently tiled, had had some of the tiles fall off to the ground, leaving bare patches. The windows seemed to be okay, though Alfred knew he'd had to get them double glazed to reduce energy costs.

By now, Matthew had come to his side and given him a harder than necessary nudge before walking ahead of him.

"Stop gawking like a retard Alfie! We got some work to do!"

Alfred grumbled slightly at the comment and shouted back at his brother,

"I know that, and stop calling me Alfie, I outgrew that name long ago!"

Of course, Matthew just laughed, disappearing into the building. Alfred followed after him, grumbling curses.

When they were inside at last, it seemed like they'd entered a different world. A rather old-fashioned world. Everything had been kept almost exactly as it had been before, though there had been some new things installed over the various years and owners.

Matthew dumped his stuff in a messy pile in the middle of the hallway and walked into the living room, where a flat-screen TV and couch and various other things were that had been moved here from their American home, all wrapped in plastic, just waiting to be torn open.

"Yay, TV!"

"At least _try_ and be an adult." Alfred said as he walked in, his cases stacked neatly on the floor.

"At least _try_ and not be a wet blanket!" Matthew shot back, "you try and not be amazed by one thousand channels-"

"Of shit…" Alfred added

"Don't you dare insult the TV, poser. You may have had shit cartoons when you were little, but this is cable TV!"

"Yeah, whatever." Alfred said, smiling smugly as he rolled his eyes. In truth, Alfred didn't hate TV, (hell, he loved watching movies on it) but he never revered it as much as his brother did, a quirk on which he blamed America's overly high use of TV on children at a young age.

"Anyway." Alfred said, swiftly moving on before his brother could comment on something else "we have got to get this plastic off."

"Aw, so we don't get to watch TV and sit on a couch through plastic? I'm disillusioned."

"Shut up…" Alfred said as he started to take the plastic off the couch.

* * *

A couple of hours passed as Alfred and Matthew removed stuff from their plastic wrappings, boxes and other containers and put them in their rightful places. The cottage had seven rooms; two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen with space for a table included and an office. After Alfred had finished placing the last few bits of cutlery in the kitchen drawers and wiping down the table top of the kitchen, he breathed out a content sigh and looked around. He already felt at home here, which wasn't very surprising.

He walked into the living room to find that Matthew had fallen asleep on the couch in a rather undignified position, half-his body hanging off the side of the couch with his stomach exposed. Alfred massaged his temple. No wonder he hadn't heard anything from the other in the last thirty minutes. He walked over and thought of carrying Matthew to bed when, out of the corner of his eye, something ran by a window in the living-room.

Alfred, curious, forgot about his brother for a moment as he looked outside, moving towards the window. The window didn't look out onto much; just the blue sky and the dense forest that surrounded the cottage.

 _It couldn't be… could it?_ he thought. He looked around for any hint of life. He was about to give up when he saw some bushes rustle unnaturally. He felt as if his body was moving on its own as he left his brother snoring on the couch and went straight to the front door, opening it without caring to get the keys from his brother and ran out, slamming the door behind him.

He ran towards the forest and the bushes he had seen rustling. He pawed through them but found nothing, then saw some sort of tracks in the moist ground.

 _Human foot prints?_ he thought as he started to walk into the forest, following them. His clothes weren't meant for the forest, overly casual and shoes not hard-wearing. He didn't care though as he continued to follow the tracks, squeezing past the trees as he went deeper and deeper into the forest.

At some point, the tracks stopped and Alfred thought of giving up and turning back, knowing Matthew would have a field day, wondering why he had left. He was about to go when he heard a noise. Laughter. He turned quickly and everything was silent, except for the slight rustling of the branches above him.

There was another sound and this time it sounded like someone speaking.

"Hello?" Alfred shouted.

A pause.

"Hello." He repeated.

Another pause.

"Is anyone there?"

Silence.

Then, "A-Al." The voice was stuttering, coming from nowhere place and yet everywhere at the same time, like it was reverberating in Alfred's skull. Alfred twitched, his serious persona slipping slightly before he drew himself up to his full height.

"Hello, who are you?"

The voice laughed and then the branches moved erratically. Alfred looked up to see a shape in the branches, rapidly moving away from him.

He grit his teeth. Who was this person?

He started to run now, not caring about the obstacles in his way as he ran through the forest, past animal dens and holes in the ground and tree trunks, twice the thickness of Alfred's body. He didn't care about any of those as he followed the figure in the branches, who looked little more than silhouette from Alfred's perspective.

"Hey!" he shouted towards the figure. "Stop running! What are you doing on my property!?"

The figure didn't answer, leading him further and further into the forest.

* * *

Eventually, he came to a clearing, where the trees parted and there was only grass, wild flowers and a small but deep pool which seemed to have been made by collected rainwater.

Alfred stopped and looked around frantically, trying to find the silhouette in vain.

_Where are they?_

As he looked around, he took in the clearing with all its beautiful plants and the sun glimmering off the pool of rainwater. It was a nice place and so… nostalgic. Alfred smiled, a strange fuzzy feeling in his chest and mind, and turned around to see two gleaming emerald eyes right in front of his face.

"Ya-hah!" he shouted (not screamed, not at all) as he jumped backwards, stumbling and falling down. He was now by the pool's edge as he looked up at the figure in front of him. The man wasn't wearing much in the way of clothing; only an old pair of jeans which were torn every which way. He was a thin figure, though not unhealthily so and was fairly tanned. Alfred looked up farther, becoming more and more confused as he recognized the man's features one by one. The man had emerald eyes, human in appearance but mystical in feeling, the iris slightly more acute and fox-like. The man also had sandy blond hair, tussled everywhere with no sense of order. Though, most notable were three features. One, his eyebrows, which looked like fuzzy caterpillars had crawled onto his face and died. Two, were the fox ears, which he sported, almost hidden among his hair except for their white tips. And three, and strangest of all, was his two tails – yeah, two fox tails. Both were the same colour, sandy blond with white tips.

Alfred was shocked, unable to speak or even breathe as the man stood in front of him, the tails swaying and the ears flicking as he started to say something. He pronounced his words slowly and carefully as if a single misstep would cause Alfred to flee like a frightened animal.

"Hi… Alfie…"

The voice was quiet, soothing and most of all… British.

It was too much for Alfred. His mind, practically being torn apart by the conflict between his logic and the impossible sight before him, began to shut down. As he felt his consciousness slip away, he thought.

_Arthur…_

Then he fell unconscious, snoring quietly as the man approached him. The man sighed as he looked at Alfred, then smiled and chuckled quietly.

"You did that when we met for the first time too."

Alfred, through his absent mind, felt himself being moved and placed against some sort of hard surface. Two soft tendons were wrapped around him, warming him gently as well as tickling his nose slightly. He relaxed, slipping fully into sleep, leaning against the warm body next to him. He questioned, hazily, how long it'd been since he'd slept so well.


	3. Peek-a-boo! Who's there?

Alfred didn't know how long he had been resting for when he slowly opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the pond of rainwater, completely still and unmoving. It looked almost like a perfect plane mirror. The second thing he noticed was that it was darker than before, like it was late evening. Alfred shuffled a bit.

"Mmph."

He heard that irritated noise next to him and felt something, or someone, snuggle into his side. Alfred's eyes opened wide, suddenly completely awake as he turned to his left. He now noticed two things; one, he had two fox tails wrapped around him and two, there was someone next to him, sleeping with their head leant on his shoulder as they snored peacefully.

It didn't take Alfred long to remember what had happened before he fainted, with him running into the forest and coming to this clearing before suddenly meeting a strange fox man with green eyes who looked very similar to his childhood imaginary friend, albeit with another tail and older now.

When Alfred had the full image in his mind as to what was going on, he immediately shuffled away from the other, going to stand and look back at the other, who remained asleep for a few moments before opening their eyes and looking up at him as if nothing was wrong.

"Alfie… what's wrong?"

Alfred felt a cold sweat go down his spine as he heard the other say his childhood nickname.

"H-how do you know my name?" Alfred asked, trying to look serious though his tone faltered and he stuttered a bit.

The strange fox-person-thing crooked an eyebrow for a moment, before getting up, his ears flicking and his tails swaying in a subtly irritated way, like a cat.

"You don't remember me?" he asked, looking faintly confused. Arthur had been sure that the other would remember him, after all, he had made _that_ promise to him.

"N-no, I don't." Alfred replied, though he knew he was lying. Of course he remembered the other, he just didn't believe the other existed.

Arthur's expression darkened for a moment, a single solitary moment. Then the other smiled and before Alfred could think as to why the other was smiling, or as to why he had looked so strange for a moment, Arthur dashed forward and suddenly Alfred was blind.

Not completely blind, mind you. He drew his hand to his face and noticed his glasses were no longer there.

"Hey!" he shouted as he turned around, trying to make out the shape of the other, which wasn't easy considering everything around Alfred were now just blurry blobs. The rapidly declining light didn't help either. "Give me back my glasses!" he shouted again, his voice more indignant than authoritative.

There was a pause and then the voice of the other came through, though Alfred couldn't tell where it was coming from again.

"What are these?" he asked curiously, seemingly completely impassive of the other's tone.

Alfred growled slightly and looked around feverently, though, finding it was of no use, sighed and answered the other.

"They're called 'glasses' they let me see things…"

"That's weird, why would need glasses to see when you have perfectly good sight already?"

Alfred face-palmed, feeling his patience grow even thinner than it had been earlier.

"I don't have perfectly good sight! That's why I have glasses!" He shouted again.

He was met with laughter, innocent laughter.

"Heh heh, you're still so sensitive. That's not very adult of you, Alfie~"

"I am not sensitive! And stop calling me Alfie, my name is Alfred!"

"I _know_ your name's Alfred, Alfie. Otherwise, I wouldn't know to call you Alfie, now would I?" the voice retorted. Alfred could almost feel the smile behind the other's words and part of him wondered if he had pissed the other off somehow.

"Whatever!" he exclaimed "Just give me my glasses back!"

There was a pause, as if for mock thought. Then a simple;

"No."

Alfred seemed struck dumb for a moment. He should have been used to this, considering his father and brother did this with him most days. But, coming from the other, who he was still denying existed, it somehow touched him deeper and made more of his emotions come out, which had sworn he had grown out of.

"What do ya mean, no!?" he shouted, covering his mouth with his hands as he noticed he let out a bit of an accent, something he normally took great pains to hide.

The voice laughed again.

"Exactly what I said. No. Unless…"

"Unless, what?" Alfred questioned, knowing he was being lead along as he still looked around for the other and found he couldn't see anything in the coming night, let alone a fox man who could hide in trees.

"Unless~" there was a dramatic pause "You tell me my name."

Alfred froze again, not speaking for a while before responding.

"No."

"Huh?" the other asked "what do you mean, no?"

Déjà vu.

"I don't know your name."

"Of course you do! There is no way you couldn't remember."

"I don't. know." Alfred said curtly.

The voice didn't respond and Alfred wondered whether the other had left before he suddenly felt something behind him. Before he could turn, He was hugged from behind and his eyes were covered with something soft.

"Peek-a-bo. Who's there?"

"What!?"

"Peek-a-bo. Who's there? Come on Alfie, you have to remember at least this, it was a game we used to play. Guess the voice."

Alfred couldn't help the memory coming into his mind, of the nights and days they had spent playing silly games together. This had been one of their favourites, especially at night when they couldn't see each other well.

"Come on Alfie, guess."

"No…"

"Guess."

"No."

"Guess~"

"No!"

"Guess or I'll lick your ear~"

Alfred felt his heart skip a beat and himself blush before he gave up, knowing the other was probably serious.

"Fine! Hello, Arthur!"

Suddenly, Alfred was let go and his eyes were uncovered at the same time. He then felt his glasses be placed back on and he quickly turned to see Arthur standing behind him, smiling, having happily got his revenge.

"Hello, Alfie! That was good for a first time, though next time, call me Artie, okay?"

Alfred felt like a vein on his skull was throbbing and was very close to jumping on the other when he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"We're not kids anymore Arthur…"

"I whole-heartily agree!" the other exclaimed happily, clapping together his hands with dash of finality, as if they had only just now gotten to the meat of the subject.

"What?"

"Yeah, we aren't children anymore. That is why I want to talk to you about your promi-"

"Alfred!" A shout came, cutting off Arthur. It was familiar and Alfred soon identified it as Matthew's voice. He must have woken up and started looking for Alfred. Alfred would have smiled, if he didn't think it was because his brother probably wanted him to cook dinner, though he could well cook for himself.

He turned towards the voice and shouted back.

"I'm here Matthew!"

He turned back and suddenly, Arthur wasn't there anymore.

Alfred was shocked for a moment and looked around for the other but found he could not, yet again, find the other if he didn't want to be seen.

"What? Where'd you go?"

He didn't have time to think about that as Matthew came into the clearing and jumped at him, hugging him for a moment before drawing back.

"Alfie, I want food!"

Alfred sighed, he'd been right.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on." He said, prying Matthew off him, who kept reattaching just to annoy him. They walked out of the clearing and back towards their house, bickering constantly along the way.

Meanwhile, up in some of the highest tree branches, Arthur looked down at the two men and grit his teeth, his innocent expression lost as his furrowed his eyebrows and growled. Who was this man and what was he doing with his Alfie?

There was a solid 'thunk' behind him and he turned quickly, glaring at the figure who stood on a branch not-so-far from him. In the disappearing light, he could see the other had a tail like his, though only one and eyes which shone a poison green instead of his emerald. He didn't need to observe those though, to know who it was.

"What are you doing here Alistair?" Arthur growled.

"Just watching the show." The other chuckled "it is so rare to see you put on the innocent act, my gracious king." The other mock bowed "but really, aren't you too old for fairy-tale love?"

"Alistair." Arthur said curtly, standing to face the other.

The other chuckled again and put his hands up in a mock surrender position.

"Now, now, no need to get so angry A.R.T.I.E." Alistair said, articulating every syllable through his thick accent "you wouldn't want your Alfie to get scared now, would you?"

"Don't you call him that, you bastard!"

"Heh, yeah. I am a bastard, ain't I?"

Before Arthur could think of attacking the other, the other just grinned and ran off, leaving Arthur there to think, hate and worry.


	4. New People

The next day came around fairly uneventfully, after Alfred and Matthew had returned from the forest. Of course, Matthew had asked Alfred no end of questions about why he had been in the forest.

"You're very irresponsible!" he had accused Alfred as they ate a rather late dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese, prepared by Alfred "I could have been eaten by wolves, you know?"

To which Alfred had sighed and responded,

"There aren't any wolves in that forest Matthew, I have never seen one and even if there were I doubt they could get through an old oak door."

"You never know!" the other exclaimed, undeterred "they could have come through a window! Or maybe they're werewolves! What would I do then, eh?"

 _Scream…_ Alfred thought, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Matthew noticed and proceeded to continue his rant, eating spoonful's of pasta in-between while Alfred tiredly avoided the same questions and absorbed the same insults.

Eventually, the two brothers got to their individual bedrooms, splitting ways with a few quick insults before entering their rooms. Alfred's room was much the same as it had been before, with an old wooden floor which creaked as he walked as well as the old blue paint on the walls that his Father had put up for him. He sorted out the items in his suitcase and briefcase, putting them all in their right places.

Eventually, he found the letter, hidden deep within a thin pocket on the inside of Alfred's briefcase. Alfred, for a moment, felt as if he wanted to throw the letter away, forget the past and never go into that forest again. He was going to do it to, aiming the letter at the nearest trash receptacle. He aimed once,

Twice,

Thrice.

Then sighed and placed the letter in his sock drawer, hiding it under a rather ghastly pair of Christmas socks his mother had bought him five years ago, or which he had never worn. He then sat on his bed, taking off his shoes, socks and the rest of his clothing, putting on a pair of pyjamas – which were a plain black colour – and went under the covers. All the while, his head was spinning with images of a forgotten time. Part of him so wished to forget those memories, or him and Arthur playing in the forest until they passed out from exhaustion. Part of him wanted to forget how the other had looked so sweet when he smiled and how he was so kind and almost fragile. Part of him wanted to forget the promise he had made to the other.

But then again, part of him didn't.

Alfred soon fell asleep, rolling around slightly in his sleep. He had never slept as well without Arthur by his side. He knew that.

_Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep._

The alarm clock rang at seven a.m. the next morning, it's shrill blare filling the expanse of the rather small room.

_Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep._

"Al…"

Another noise joined the fray, a voice this time. Alfred growled quietly to himself as he turned over, not wishing to wake up and face the world. He had too much to think about.

_Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep._

"Al."

_Knock._

There was a knock on Alfred's door, which caused Alfred to bark a rather annoyed.

"Shut up, I'm sleeping!" before collapsing back down and trying to fall asleep again, hoping the noises would stop of their own accord.

_Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep._

"Alfie!"

_Bash, bash, bash._

Alfred was about to bark back again when suddenly everything turned quiet for a moment. Alfred thought he'd won when suddenly his door was rather loudly kicked in, leaving Matthew standing in its frame, already dressed.

"Alfred! Wake up!"

Alfred was already caught off guard by the other kicking in his door, let alone him calling him by his given name, which normally meant the other was serious.

Matthew looked a lot different in his work clothes than in his formal attire. For one, his hair was tamer, though one small curl always defied the iron rule of his comb and hair gel. Secondly, he looked a lot more professional, with a black suit jacket, a white shirt, black dress trousers as well as fake glasses to boot. Matthew liked to say he wore his work clothes so formally because he'd always been a fan of dirty office play, though Alfred just thought the other took his job seriously, despite all appearances of not.

Going back to the situation at hand, while Alfred was slightly shocked by both his brother's entrance and words, he was still groggy and growled at the other.

"Go away Matthew."

"Do you know what time it is!?" the other exclaimed, clearly losing patience with his older brother. The other had always been a terrible morning person and a heavy sleeper.

"7."

"No, it's 8. You dumbass."

There was a pause, a long pause, such a long pause you could almost hear the cogs in Alfred's brain starting to turn slowly.

Then, the silence imploded as Alfred threw off his covers and got up at almost the speed of sound.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" he shouted as he went into his closet, dragging out his clothes before stripping, not even caring Matthew was there in his haste.

"I gave you some beauty sleep!" the other exclaimed back "god knows you need it…"

Alfred didn't particularly care about the last comment as he put his socks and shoes on in a hurry and ran out of his bedroom, knocking Matthew to the side, which would probably make him smile later.

He ran down the stairs, almost falling several times as he tried to put on his jacket before reaching the bottom. Matthew followed behind, rather nonchalant considering if Alfred was late, he was late too. Alfred ran to the front door, not having time to make coffee, and found what he was looking for, a key rack with a set of car keys on the far right.

He grabbed them without thinking, as well as his house keys, and ran outside. He looked around desperately before turning to Matthew and shouting,

"Where's my car, Matthew?!"

"In the shed." The other said, pointing towards a fairly large shed which stood a few metres from the house. Alfred was happy to have gotten a straightforward answer out of the other for once as he went over to the shed and threw up the shed door, which was a metal sheet like thing. Inside was his car, a rather old yet stylish navy blue 1974 AMC Javelin AMX 401. He pressed the unlock button on the car keys and smirked just a little at the satisfying Beep-bop sound the car made as it unlocked. Alfred, much to his brother's enjoyment, was a fan of classic cars, this being one of his favourite models.

He rushed in and opened the driver's seat, slamming the door and bringing the engine to life before slamming the accelerate pedal and bringing the car into the outside light. Matthew got into the passenger seat with a grumble about how the other could have run him over.

Matthew hadn't even buckled himself in when Alfred put the pedal to the metal and drove off down the track like a crazy person.

Fifteen minutes, three almost-crashes and five screams from Matthew about calming down later, Alfred and Matthew finally appeared in the parking lot of their new place of work. As Matthew was trying to get his breathing back to normal, Alfred looked out at the building. It was fairly new, though it wasn't that large and most of the space around it, save the car park and a few other things, was left as it had always been, green fields with a few flowers popping up here and there, swaying gently in the breeze. It was peaceful, a good change of pace from the hectic environment that Alfred was used to working in.

He drove in and parked up nearby the front entrance and opened his door, stepping out and heaving a sigh before watching as his brother came out of the other side, still looking a bit dazzled as he combed his hair back into place from the mess it had become during his older brother's irresponsible driving.

"Come on Matthew, we're going to be late!" Alfred exclaimed as he started to walk towards the building's front entrance. Matthew gawked for a moment and then grumbled something about his brother being extraordinarily cruel before he followed behind the other into the building.

Alfred and Matthew rushed in through the revolving doors and were soon directed to a series of hallways where their office lay. They rushed through the corridors, the corners and straights never seeming to end as they tried to find where they would be working. While they were doing this, -and by 'they' I mean Alfred - Matthew took to the practice of looking down at the floor as well as up into the windows of other people's offices, looking for anyone that looked good. There were a few candidates, but no-one stellar.

While he was looking at the floor, he saw something which made him snicker slightly, seeing an opportunity to annoy his brother, who seemed to currently be ahead of him in their 'contest'.

"Hey, Alfie."

No response.

Matthew smirked. He liked this part.

"Hey, Alfie. Listen, hey. Hey, hey, listen, eh?"

Then there was a response, which came with the added seasoning that was an irritated tone.

"What."

"Hello."

A pause, then a growl and then quiet again.

Matthew was almost grinning now.

"Hey, Alfie~"

This continued to go on for some time until about the fourth time Matthew started up again. They were turning a corner as Matthew spoke.

"Hey, Alfie, listen to me, eh?"

Of course, by now, Alfred was very annoyed at Matthew and was very close to kicking him In the balls. As they turned the corner, he turned his head around to look at the other as he gave a rather loud shout of.

"What!?"

Suddenly, Alfred felt something bump into him from around the corner. Something soft. Very, very soft. And huge.

Alfred turned forward, Matthew looking out from behind as he saw what he had bumped into. In front of him, having just dropped a large amount of loose paper, was a woman. The woman had golden blond hair, medium-length with some sort of hair band at the top. The woman looked up at Alfred, after having bent down to collect the dropped records and Alfred first saw her face. It was a cute face, with a button nose and almost childish features as well as cyan eyes.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, sir!" the woman apologized, her voice exotic and warming "I didn't mean to knock into you, I should have been more careful!"

That knocked Alfred back from his daze. He now bent down too, helping the woman grab her files.

"Don't worry." He said "it was my fault for not being aware of you."

While he was bent down, Alfred saw more of the woman he had bumped into. She was wearing a black dress which reached just above her ankles, enough so Alfred could see the black tights underneath and the black business shoes she wore. As his eyes travelled up, he saw she was wearing a black blazer and white blouse which looked rather tight around her massive bre-

Before Alfred could shame himself by thinking of the word, the woman had all her documents and got up from the floor, Alfred following suit.

The woman seemed to me smiling now. It was a smile that could light the darkest room.

"Thank you sir, for helping a klutz like me." She said with genuine gratefulness.

Alfred felt himself blush brightly and covered his face with his arm and turned away as he spoke.

"N-no problem, Miss…?"

The woman paused before catching on to what Alfred was asking.

"Oh! It's Miss Yekaterina Braginskaya, though everyone just calls me Kat Braginski. Or just Kat, really." Kat paused before speaking again, this time in a questioning manner "um, sir, you don't have to tell me, but, what is your name?"

It took Alfred a few seconds to catch on, still blushing slightly, before he answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he forced himself to look straight into Kat's eyes.

"Oh! Yeah, my Name is Alfred f. Jones. But people tend to call me Alfr-"

"This is my dear older brother Alfie!" Matthew cut in before Alfred could finish "New Manager just in today, and I am his beloved – and available – bro-!"

"Oh my god, you're the new manager!?" Kat interrupted, seeming to have almost completely ignored Matthew "I am so sorry!" she apologized again, bowing her head repeatedly.

"W-whoa, hey!" Alfred said, waving his hands frantically "it's okay, it's my fault remember?"

Kat stopped bowing for a moment and looked up at Alfred again, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, positive."

There was a pause, then Kat smiled again, even more than before.

"That's great. Please, Mr Jones, do you mind if I repay for you helping me by buying you lunch today?" Alfred was going to refuse. He really was. Until Matthew burst in again.

"He'd love to!"

"That's great!" Kat exclaimed, staring to rush off again now as she shouted back to Alfred "see you later, Mr Jones Sir! Also, I like the Christmas socks, very stylish!"

Alfred paused, suddenly feeling very cold as he looked down at his feet to see he had put on the five-year old socks in his rush this morning. Alfred felt himself start to go into despair and would have continued to do so, had his brother not started laughing like a maniac, reviving him in flames.

"Idiot! Why did you tell her I wanted to go!? And why didn't you tell me about these!?" he pointed to the offending socks.

That seemed to kick Matthew off even more as he continued laughing as he spoke.

"I-I did tell you! Didn't you listen to me earlier? Haha!" he paused "Also, did you not see her!? Dude, her boobs are huge! I could practically hear them bouncing! And she asked you out on a date too, on the first meeting, that's progress and you really, really, really need to get some soon!"

Everything went quiet and Matthew started to take the lead, walking to a nearby door which had their names and positions on it. He looked back at Alfred and smirked.

"No need to thank me, brother! Just doing my part as the little one! Now come on, we're already late!" he then opened the door and walked inside, leaving Alfred out in the hall, confused, shocked and with a lunch-date.


	5. My Big Brother

From that time until lunch, Alfred couldn't really linger on the situation that had occurred earlier as the work came in hard and fast. Advertisement concepts had to be approved, slogans had to be refined and personal had to have their complaints addressed. It was hectic as Alfred sat at his rather well-made desk, signing documents with one hand and stamping others with the other hand.

Eventually, when Alfred was all but spent, there was a knock on his door, which separated his part of the office from Matthew's part at the front. Alfred sighed, raising his head slowly as he answered.

"Yes?"

"It's lunch, numb-nuts!" came Matthew's voice through the door "time to get it on with that big-titted mistress of yours!"

Alfred blushed at the reminder of Kat's chest size, but shook his head from side to side to get the image out of his head. He got up and walked towards the door, his embarrassment and irritation at his brother's comment reviving him slightly as he opened the door to Matthew standing there, looking as nonchalant as normal.

"She is not my mistress." Alfred said sternly to the other, "She's just a work colleague who very politely invited me to lunch!"

"Yeah, that's right, and you're not a virgin." Matthew responded sarcastically.

"What's that got to mean?" Alfred questioned, not really getting it. He'd never dated, despite having many opportunities to in the past.

"It means." Matthew said, flicking Alfred's forehead before turning around towards the door that lead to the hallway "that she digs you, poser."

Alfred put a hand on his forehead where the other had flicked, too concerned of that and too confused by his brother's words to make out the slight tone of irritation in the other's voice.

"Come on!" the other called, already at the door which lead to the hallway. Alfred sighed, deciding to give up comprehending what his brother had tried to explain to him, following the other as they both walked out of their office and down the hallway, following the small stream of workers who were heading for the canteen.

The canteen was a fairly large place, about the size of a warehouse, and split into two parts. The west wing was where the food was kept, including a rather sparse salad bar, sandwich bar and a small chain of counters where hot food and desserts could be ordered and collected. On the east side were a bunch of fairly large circular tables, where people were sat, talking in a variety of different languages, from English to German to Russian. The general ambience of the room was crowded with the sound of speaking, cooking and eating and as a consequence was fairly lively, more like a high-school canteen than an international advertising company's cafeteria.

"Mr Jones sir!" said a voice, just barely heard over the almost over-bearing noise around them. It was Kat, waiting near a table where a few other people were sitting as well. Alfred looked over, unsure of what expression to use as Kat waved enthusiastically at him to come over. Alfred felt himself poked on the back and looked back to see his brother standing behind him.

"Come on, poser. You can't keep a good lady waiting, eh?"

Alfred still stood in the same place though, feet frozen to the floor. Despite him being a serious businessman, Alfred was still human and in this environment so different from the cities he was used to working in, he felt strangely nervous. His expression must have showed that in some capacity, because Matthew smirked and spoke again.

"I always wonder who of us the big brother here is."

Suddenly, Alfred felt himself pushed by his brother and finally moved from his spot on the floor, almost falling to the ground before he turned and regained his balance and looked back to find that Matthew could no longer be seen, most likely having drifted into one of the crowds that surrounded the area. Alfred grumbled and found that his irritation towards his brother's actions helped him regain his composure as he looked towards Kat and walked over, a dignified expression on his face.

"Hello Miss Braginski, it is nice to meet you again…" he said.

"It is nice to meet you again too, Mr Jones sir. Oh and you don't need to call me 'Miss Braginski', just call me 'Kat', everyone else does!" Kat smiled before seemingly realizing something and shrinking down again to look vulnerable "unless… you can't do that because of your position?"

Normally, Alfred never really reacted to other's body language. He knew that in his old office, some had said behind his back he was a cruel man because he would always tell you what was on his mind and never beat around the bush, causing many people stress. However, seeing Kat looking so vulnerable, like Alfred could turn her to dust with a single strong look, Alfred couldn't help stuttering his response, his dignified face slipping slightly into a worrisome one.

"N-no, it's no problem… Kat."

Kat perked up again at that and smiled her sweet smile again.

"Yay! Thank you Mr Jones sir!" she chirped.

She then sat down on her seat and pointed to the empty one next to her, smiling at Alfred as she spoke.

"Come and sit down Mr Jones, I would like to introduce some of my friends to you!"

It was only now that Alfred's field of view widened to include the other people who sat on the same table as Kat. There were four people on the table in all besides Alfred and Kat.

Three seats were taken up by three men who sat next to each other, talking amongst themselves while Alfred and Kat had talked. One of them, who sat in the middle, had mid-length brown hair and ocean blue eyes. He wore a black suite, much like Alfred's own with a white undercoat. The one to his right was about the same height as the other with slightly lighter coloured hair and green eyes. He wore glasses and gave off a more studious atmosphere than the other two men he sat with. He wore a dark grey suit with a formal tie. Finally Alfred observed the third man, sitting to the left of the man in the middle. He was much shorter than the other two and had almost the same colour hair as the man in the middle, though slightly lighter, as well as the same colour eyes. He seemed to be the youngest as well and gave off a sense of sweet nativity the other two did not process. He wore a light grey suit which did nothing to hide his small and boyish figure.

"Oh boys~" Kat said, waving to the three who shot their heads to look at her, their conversation breaking mid-flow as they looked at Kat with a strange sort of… apprehension?

Kat continued on though, seemingly oblivious to the other's reactions.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to our new guest, yes?"

The three men turned their heads to Alfred almost in synch. They then looked at each other and started to introduce themselves. First the man in the middle;

"Uh… hello, my name is Toris Laurinaitis from the advertisement concept department, it is nice to meet you." The other sounded quite shy but his voice was soothing and gentle.

Then the one sitting to his left started up, without missing a beat in-between.

"And I'm Eduard von Bock from the IT department, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, sir." He spoke with a more refined tone than the other, only slightly nervous at meeting Alfred.

Finally, the third one started;

"H-hi! My name's Ravis Galante from the marketing department! G-good to s-see you!" His tone even sounded more innocent than the other two and more fervent as well, as if he couldn't think about his words before he said them.

"Thank you~" Kat said and the three seemed to all breathe a sigh of relief before going back to their conversation again.

Kat turned to Alfred and smiled.

"They're friends of my big brother. They're very kind, you just have to get to know them."

"Yes… I can see that." Alfred said in response, giving a nervous half-smile. He couldn't help but feel an almost oppressive atmosphere around the three, like something was holding them down in their seats besides their own will.

"Next," Kat said, moving on to the other occupant of the table- besides the three men "I would like to introduce you to my sister!"

She pointed at a female with long hair who sat on a chair, seemingly staring into space, her seat equally away from the group of men and Kat, so that she seemed to be the most isolated on the table. She had long hair, past her shoulders and almost reaching the small of her back. She had a pretty face, almost like a doll. She wore a white blouse and black blazer, much like her sister, though it looked somewhat more clunky on her.

"Hello." Alfred said, waving his hand at the other.

There was no response.

Alfred started to feel awkward when Kat stepped in, pouting slightly as she talked to her sister.

"Nat. Don't be so rude to our guest."

There was another pause and when it looked like the girl would just keep ignoring Alfred, she turned her head, very slowly and creepily, like you see in those horror films when someone is about to turn their head all the way around. Her eyes were suddenly scary, looking as if they could stare right into Alfred's soul.

"You are not my brother, please do not bother me…" Her words were laced with acidity so potent, Alfred made a mental note that if ever he should have to deal with the female he would say he was ill and have his brother take his place. Somewhere in the distance, Matthew felt a chill run down his spine, like someone was digging his grave.

With the introductions finished, Alfred turned to Kat, who smiled at him.

"The others might not say it, but they are very glad to meet you Mr Jones, we and my brother always like new guests."

"It is no problem Kat. By the way, where is this brother you keep referring to?"

"Oh, you mean Big Brother Ivan? Well, he said he'd be her-"

Suddenly, the door to the canteen was flung open and slammed against the wall, making a sound that made everyone turn their heads towards it, cutting off all noise in the room. A hulking body slunk in, the build completely disagreeing with the slow cat-like movements the owner used. The man wore a heavy black jacket with a white shirt and black hard-wearing trousers. One of the weirdest things the man wore, which stood out amongst the rest of his clothing, was a cream scarf which looked to be very old. The man's hair was wispy blond and his eyes a very dark shade of grey with a slight tint of a strange colour mixed in, almost like they were purple.

The most noticeable thing about the man though was his aura. Now, Alfred isn't the type of man to believe in such silly things as auras and signs from another realm, but as the man walked in, Alfred felt like a sack of bricks had been placed on his back, weighing him down. It seemed the whole room also felt it as the three men on Alfred's table started trembling in unison and other people started backing away from the man as he came over to their table. It was like there was a no-go zone of at least ten feet around the man.

Alfred fought to stay where he was sitting, wondering why Kat was not crying at the aura the man presented. The man drew closer, closer, closer and the aura grew darker, heavier and more oppressing. Eventually, the man was at the table and standing almost in front of Alfred, looking down on him with a look that could easily vaporize a kitten.

He slowly started speaking, the English syllables coming out heavily Russian-accented.

"Who are you then, ah?"

Alfred tried to say something, but found his voice was stuck and he couldn't speak.

Luckily, Kat came to his rescue, albeit in the strangest way possible.

"Brother Ivan! It is nice to see you!" Kat got up from where she was sitting and hugged her brother tightly, the latter of whom smiled slightly.

"Hello Kat, it is nice to see you. And who is this?" he asked again, looking at Alfred again.

"Oh! Right! Brother, this is Mr Alfred Jones, a new manager who just came in today from the American Branch. I bumped into him this morning and caused him trouble, so I invited him to lunch to make up for it. He is a very nice man."

There was a deathly silence, Ivan looked at Alfred and before Alfred could do anything, the other started to come towards him with snake-like reflexes. Alfred thought he was going to be killed right then and there. He didn't want to die, not with his brother watching and most likely taping the event.

Suddenly, Alfred felt arms around him, though he didn't know what had happened because he had closed his eyes. He slowly opened one eye and then the other, to see the Russian man smiling brightly as he bear hugged him.

"Ah, hello!" the other exclaimed loudly as he continued to hug Alfred "So sorry I didn't know who you were, sir."

Before Alfred could say anything, he was dropped and he fell back onto his seat which he had been lifted from. Ivan continued however.

"My name is Ivan Braginski, I work in HR and ensure our employees have a good time here."

Alfred was so shocked at the other's words he swore his mouth had fallen open. This man was in HR?! Ivan continued to talk however.

"I am sorry if my dear sister had troubled you, Alfred, but it is good to see a new faces on our table of friends, da?"

Alfred felt himself nodding his head and Ivan smiled again, sitting down on the seat between Alfred and the three men, who all smiled nervously at the man.

Slowly, the environment around them returned to normal, though everyone seemed to be quieter now and more cautious of Ivan, keeping their heads firmly turned away from the imposing man. Ivan didn't seem to notice however, or if he did he didn't care, and started a conversation.

To Alfred, this would be one of the most surreal experiences he would ever face and one of the most foreboding.


	6. Of how I came to be

The car drove slowly back into the drive at 6pm that night, much slower than the speed at which it had left it that morning. Matthew, although he didn't show it, seemed to be thankful for that as he exited the car, with Alfred following shortly behind. It had been a quiet drive home from the office, which wasn't that strange really. Matthew and Alfred were brothers, but it was clear to see their personalities were completely at odds, with Alfred's serious and business-like persona and Matthew free-rolling and flirty one. As such, they normally didn't have much to talk about and when they did talk, it normally came in the way of argument about one thing or another.

Matthew, though, had expected it to be different tonight. After all, his older virgin brother Alfie had finally gotten onto the first rung on the ladder of love, namely the first date. Of course, Alfie would have denied it with all he could, but Matthew knew a budding relationship when he saw one. Kat clearly had thing for Alfie and Alfie, despite everything, didn't seem to dislike her. It was promising and just thinking of the possibilities made Matthew eyes almost brim with tears of happiness.

"What are you thinking, Matthew?" Alfred questioned his brother, his eyebrows knitted together in curious suspicion behind his glasses. Matthew noticed then that his eyes were wet and he had almost actually cried. Matthew laughed at the revelation and suddenly put his arm around Alfred's shoulder, bringing his older and slightly taller brother close to his side.

"I'm just so proud, that my little virgin Alfie is finally on his way to becoming a man."

Alfred blushed instinctively at the contact and words his brother used and tried to push him away, growling back his response.

"Where do you get off talking about manhood? If I remember right, it isn't very mature to go out with three girls, all at the same time in high-school!"

Matthew made a face like he was trying to remember what his brother was talking about and then grinned, pointing a finger up in the air as if there was a thought cloud above his head.

"Oh yeah… That was really cool though, three hot ladies and one irresistible me! And face it, big brother, I ' _grew up'_ way before you did~"

Matthew was still holding onto Alfred at this point, not seemingly even bothered by the other's struggling. He decided he wanted to tease him even more, seeing the light dusting of a blush on his brother's face and brought his face close to Alfred's, within kissing distance. It was one of the oldest ploys in the book, and a rather effective one.

"Hey, how about I teach you teach you one of the best things about being a M.A.N?"

He whispered in his best husky voice, drawing out every last syllable on the last word. Matthew smiled and noticed the blush on his brother's face darkened considerably before he felt something else… extreme pain.

Alfred pushed Matthew back, having kicked him rather squarely in the crotch. He didn't like doing this to his brother (ok, maybe a little), but this time his brother had gone a bit further than necessary. Matthew, no longer able to grip Alfred because of the burning pain down south, came off without a fight and fell down, curling into the fetal position in the dirt, hissing various curses in French and English. Alfred didn't have much time to think and, looking around quickly, took off at a run to the forest, the sounds of Matthew's shouts following him as he tried not to trip on tree roots or get his toe caught on the various branches.

He'd been running for what seem like an hour, though in reality it had only been five minutes, before he stopped, bending over and putting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath back. He sighed. That had been stupid, he shouldn't have reacted to such childish teasing in such a way. When he had caught his breath, he looked up from the ground and found he was in the clearing where he had been yesterday with

"How're doing?"

Arthur.

Alfred, shocked by the sudden noise behind him, moved forward, falling down to the ground and then rapidly turning around to see Arthur standing there, smiling.

"Did I catch you off guard again? You really need to work on your reaction time, Alfie~"

"W-wha-"Alfred stuttered both because of outrage at the comment and the adrenaline still running through his system due to the surprise.

"Hmm? Yes?" Arthur questioned, leaning in comically and moving his head so his right ear was closer to Alfred "what is it?"

"Wh-what are you… doing here?" Alfred finished, breathing slow and deep to regain his senses.

"Hmm?" Arthur hummed, drawing back and looking down at Alfred with look you would give someone when you asked them what colour the sun was and they said it was blue. "Is twenty years such a long time?" he asked, not giving Alfred a chance to answer before continuing. "I live here, remember?"

"You live… in the forest?" Alfred asked, in slight disbelief.

"Yeah, and guess what. I'm the king of this place too." Arthur said, grinning at the cute face Alfred made when he didn't understand.

 _The king?_ Alfred thought _that's impossible…_

Flying Bunny Forest, as it had been named by the first inhabitants of Alfred's home, was quite a large forest, stretching for many miles in all directions, only really split by some small old roads built in ancient times and the house that had been built in its midst some two-hundred years ago. An area so huge and so filled with wildlife, it was impossible to have one person as its king.

"How can you be the king?" he asked Arthur, his mind driven away from the previous situation in a need to figure out this puzzle.

"Quite easily, actually" Arthur responded, happy the other was taking an interest in his life. He sat down on the ground, cross-legged as he spoke in a teacher-like tone, his tails idly moving around. "You see, this forest is special. This forest is one of the last in the world to be a home for mythical creatures, big and small. Back when humanity was young and more accepting to us, there were places like this all around the world, where creatures of every plane of existence could live in harmony with each other and in some cases, the humans. Each place, whether it be a forest or a mountain range, had a system by which the most powerful and wise of these creatures would act as a king of that land."

By now Alfred was sitting up, listening to the other with an odd nostalgic sense of wonder. Arthur continued, seeming to be into the flow of his tale now, his eyes closed as he continued to speak.

"For many years, we mythical beings wondered whom of our kinds could be most suited to being rulers who were impartial, wise and very powerful.

"Eventually, one beast made itself stand out among the others. The Kitsune. Japanese in origin and one of the most powerful creatures in the mythical world. My ancestors took the mantles of kings and queens of their kingdoms, their descendants taking over when they retired and so on and so forth. For many, many years, this was the way of things, the kitsunes, with their almost boundless wisdom and power, kept the law of the land and peace with the humans. We prospered. Then, it fell apart.

"Like most kingdoms and dynasties, we found that just because you were a Kitsune, did not mean you were fit to rule with the people's best interest at heart. Some of us were greedy, other's cruel. War broke out between the kingdoms and revolts sprang up, some oppressed creatures killing their Kitsune leaders and taking the mantle for themselves. At the same time, humanity became scared of our collective power and, fearing for their lives, started to destroy our habitats and our kind, locked up in cages or killed us for our bodies. In the time, many of my kind fled, not wishing to die by either side. Some of us left behind out heritage and bred with the humans, leading to hybrids and loss of the pure bloodline. Others were killed, either by their own or by the humans. Many territories were destroyed and many creatures, having no home to return to, faded into obscurity and legend."

Arthur paused for a long time after that. It seemed to be a difficult subject to talk about, which wasn't surprising. Alfred felt almost like comforting the other, but held back, letting the other continue on.

"My family have ruled this forest for many years, stretching back to when the first Kitsunes ruled. My mother was alive at the time of these wars with my father. She was with child back then. The war came to us as well and my father had to kill many a friend to keep my mother safe. The humans tired as well and they were also slaughtered by the inhabitants of this forest, who wanted nothing more than to live in peace. By the end of it, we had lost many friends and family. My father was a broken man and ran away shortly after, leaving my mother here with her new child… me."

Arthur stopped then. He looked up to Alfred, smiling, though Alfred could see he was shivering slightly.

"Arth-"Alfred started before he was stopped by a long and drawn out growling noise. He looked around quickly, thinking it was a wolf of something before he heard it again and looked at Arthur, who seemed to be blushing slightly as he covered his stomach.

"Are you…"

"Sorry, I couldn't forage enough to eat today and I was busy looking after some baby griffins and I kinda"

Arthur suddenly felt himself being poked with something and looked up to see Alfred standing up and looking down at him, in his hands a bar of some sort.

"Here." He said, his tone stern while he looked to the right.

Arthur didn't move for a short while, transfixed by the strange wrapped bar the other held in his out-stretched hand. It was colourfully-wrapped, with the words 'Super Healthy Nut Bar' written on it in bold lettering.

Arthur smiled, a warmer smile this time and looked up at Alfred again.

"Thank you, but… I'm allergic to nuts."

Alfred twitched, damn, why hadn't he thought of that. He suddenly started freaking out, fiddling around as he blushed.

"S-sorry, I didn't think you were."

Arthur stood up then as well, grinning now like he had done before.

"I should think so!" he said, his tone hard for a moment before he paused and then laughed "because I was lying!"

Alfred, hearing the words, looked Arthur straight in the eyes, his glasses doing little to hide the look of shock and confusion on his face. Arthur chuckled, pausing before moving in on a whim and giving Alfred a chaste kiss on the lips.

"You look so cute when you're shocked, you know?" he said as he drew back. Alfred stayed frozen in his position for a few seconds after and Arthur wondered if something was wrong before bar was suddenly pushed towards his bare chest, pushing it into Arthur's hands as Alfred looked sternly away.

"Eat this…" he murmured and then walked to the edge of the clearing, in the direction of his house. Arthur thought he'd gone too far and was about to apologize when Alfred spoke again.

"I'll come… and give you food, okay?"

That seemed to stop Arthur and Alfred walked out without another word, leaving Arthur there, with a nut bar in his hands, a blush on his cheeks and a smile on his lips. Yep, that was his husband, all right. Meanwhile, in Alfred's view, he felt like something was changing. Something was coming back, something he had forgotten long ago. As he walked back, now short of a nut bar he had gotten from the canteen, he despite everything, felt himself smile. Then grin. Then laugh.


	7. A Good Friend

When Alfred returned home that night, Matthew was outside, waiting for him by the front door, still nursing his hurt pride. Of course, he'd been angry, but Alfred strangely didn't care. In fact, he even had to pretend he was being serious as he absent-mindidly accepted what his brother said without rebuttal. Matthew would have noticed this, in most any other situation, but, at the time, he was still focused on getting out his annoyance. Alfred ended up promising his brother he would do all the house-work for the next week for what he'd done.

After that, the argument seemed to peter out and the two entered the cottage again, Alfred cooking before they both went to bed with nay a word between them.

Alfred slept well that night, calm and relaxed for a reason he couldn't define, nor did he try to. He just fell asleep, the image of Arthur prevalent in his mind as he rested.

The next day, Alfred work up at the right time this time, his eyes slowly looking up at the ceiling as he rubbed his head and looked over at the electric clock.

6:56.

He actually beat his alarm clock, which was extremely rare as normally Alfred needed the clock's shrill alarm to even think of waking up, let alone getting up. He decided it must have been because he had slept well the night before and got out of bed, dressing at his own pace this time, instead of hurrying like last time. The criminal Christmas socks now stayed firmly in their drawer, never again to be worn and hiding the letter again.

He walked out of his room in his business attire, straightening everything out before walking downstairs to find that even his brother hadn't stirred, a fact made evident by the lack of a certain dear brother sitting in front of the tv, watching whatever children's program was on at the time. Alfred knew that wouldn't last for long though and so walked into the kitchen to make the other breakfast, knowing he'd probably still be annoyed from the night before.

As he set about, making a breakfast of scrambled eggs and French toast, he couldn't help but remember what had happened the night before. Really, he knew that he should just forget about it and move on, but found his body thinking differently as if made enough for three portions instead of two. He sighed when he was done, wondering what the hell he was thinking as he plated the three portions, taking one of the plates and quietly walking out the front door. He knew he didn't have enough time to go to the clearing to place the food there, so moved to the edge of the forest and hid the plate behind a bush. He then rushed back inside and closed the door. It was just in time as well, as Matthew came down the stairs in his clothes, his eyes still blurry from sleep.

"Food…" he stated dully.

Alfred may have been a heavy sleeper, but Matthew was no better when it came to getting up in the mornings. Alfred revelled in the sight and went to get Matthew's portion, having to fight a cheeky smile as he walked. After Matthew and Alfred had eaten, Matthew watching a new episode of some dumb series with a yellow dog who could stretch to unreal proportions and Alfred reading some paper work which needed to be handed in, they got in the car and drove off to work.

The day continued normally from there, with both of them chipping away at their work-loads. It wasn't until about 12am, just before lunch hour, when things started to change up slightly. Matthew was working in the first room of their office, filing some contacts when he heard the door being knocked. It was a gentle, quiet knock, so Matthew knew instantly that it was a woman. He smiled then, he had an inkling as to who that woman was. Despite everything that had happened the night before, Matthew still wanted his brother and Kat to hook up, if only for the pleasure of having Alfred being obligated to thank him later when he had two kids and was happily married. He got up, straightening his attire before opening the door. He'd been right as Kat was on the other side of the door, looking slightly embarrassed and awkward just standing in the hallway.

"Ah, hello Kat." Matthew said, putting on a professional smile with no flirtation at all, which was almost unheard of. "What is that you are wishing for today?"

Kat stayed quiet, her mouth open to speak, but drawing back into herself with a blush.

Matthew smiled, man, his brother was lucky, getting a cute babe like Kat. Next, she'd turn out to be a dominatrix, just to frost the cake.

"Or should I say whom?" he continued, slowly.

Kat jerked and blushed again, almost looking like a child being found out about having stolen a cookie from the jar. Eventually, she seemed to muster up enough courage to speak.

"Is Mr. Jones in?"

Matthew didn't waste any time. He turned around on his heel and practically ran to Alfred's door, opening it without knocking and almost shouting in.

Alfred had been reading some document about how they could make their outgoings more efficient when the door was suddenly swung open to show his brother in te frame with an ecstatic expression on his face, which never meant something good was about to happen to Alfred.

"Alfie!~" he called, his cheery voice making Alfred go even more on edge.

"What is it?" Alfred asked, his eyebrows knitting in suspicion.

"Look who's here." Matthew stated, then making a large sweeping movement as he moved out of the door frame to reveal Kat still standing in the hall.

Alfred's expression went to confusion and slight shock. What was Kat doing here? She didn't have an appointment, did she?

"H-hello, Mr Jones s-sir…" she stuttered, shyly waving, which Alfred almost returned before noticing that it would make him look stupid. He decided instead to stand up, looking straight into Kat's eyes as he spoke.

"Hey… Kat…"

Matthew, standing off to the side, almost couldn't hold in his laughter. It was like a scene from an anime. Boy meets girl in a random accident, girl falls in love with boy but boy is oblivious and eventually they understand each other and they confess, then kiss then do the dirty then have ten children and the credits roll. He was almost drooling thinking about it. Meanwhile, the conversation continued at a snail's pace.

"So…" Alfred said slowly "do you have some business here?"

Kat's eyes widened, like she had just remembered something and then she spoke again.

"Y-yes… I was just w-wondering if you maybe would like to… like to… go to lunch with me?"

There was a pause, then a longer one, then silence. Matthew was almost pissing himself in the corner before Alfred responded.

"Okay."

Kat seemed to be shocked at first at the briefness of the reply, then smiled and giggled happily.

"Okay then, I'll meet you at the lunch hall" she said as she walked off, bouncing chest and all.

Matthew gave up trying at that point and burst into almost hysterical laughter. Alfred walked to his door and glared at his younger brother who was currently leaning his whole body against the wall and almost crying.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked.

"Hah hah… d-don't w-worry, heh heh."

Matthew eventually managed to calm himself down, wiping away the tears in his eyes as Alfred looked at him with a mix of suspicion and confusion. He'd accepted Kat's gesture because he thought it was the best course of action. Kat was a sweet woman and one of the first friends that Alfred had made in the building, even if her family were slightly odd. It was no worse than his, he added bitterly in his head, looking pointedly at his brother.

Matthew noticed his brother's look but decided to ignore it, smiling as he walked towards the door that lead into the hallway. He seemed to have completely forgotten about what had happened the night before as he spoke in an almost sing-song voice.

"Come on then, Alfie~ it is lunch-hour, is it not?"

With that he walked out, leaving Alfred to sigh and massage his temple. He really didn't understand his brother sometimes. It was just a meet-up between friends, after all.

Oh, how wrong he was.


	8. Ivan and Canteens

As soon as Alfred walked into the canteen, he felt as if he was being stared at. He looked around, but saw no-one was even looking in his direction, though some seemed to be whispering amongst themselves. He shrugged lightly, walking off to find where Kat was sitting. Matthew had long since disappeared somewhere and Alfred found he didn't want to look for him, still confused about his actions earlier on.

It didn't take long to find Kat, as she was waving over to Alfred and had a very… _noticeable_ appearance. Kat smiled when she saw Alfred. The table was occupied by the same people who had sat there the last time. The three men were whispering to one another again, eyes darting around and the blond haired female was still sitting as far away from Kat and the others as possible. This time, though, another man was sitting at the table, his seat looking like a tiny stool compared to his hulking figure. It didn't take Alfred too long to figure out who the man was. Ivan, the man who was Kat's supposed brother.

Alfred couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as he walked up to the table and took the only available seat, between Kat and Ivan.

"Thank you so much for coming, Mr Jones Sir." Kat said happily as Alfred took a seat, seemingly oblivious as to how slowly he did so. Before Alfred could reply with a thank you for the invitation, Ivan spoke, his heavily accented voice overpowering the scene in almost an instant, leaving Alfred little time to breathe, let alone speak.

"Yes, it is good to have you sitting with us again, my friend. So tell me, how are you adapting to managing here?"

Alfred didn't speak for a moment, feeling like he shouldn't. It took him a few seconds to realize that Ivan was waiting for his reply.

"It's going fine, I suppose." Alfred answered carefully, observing Ivan's fixed smile with caution. He felt like one of those cops in an old action movie who had the unenviable task of de-activating a time-bomb without any help and wearing boxing gloves. The only difference was, this time-bomb was less metal and TNT and more muscle and skin.

"There is a lot of work I would think, da? How do you cope with that?"

At this point, Alfred was starting to get less nervous and more curious. The last time Ivan and him had met, the day before, Ivan hadn't spoken nearly so much or asked as many questions as he did now.

"The work isn't that difficult really, there's just a lot of it to do. I guess it's just something you got to get used to and soldier on with."

Ivan nodded his head, which made Alfred think he had at least given a suitable answer, though as to why a suitable answer had to be given, he didn't know. Ivan looked like he was about to ask another question, when Kat interjected.

"How about we all go and get our food now?" she said, her tone never changing from its shy-cheeriness.

Ivan turned to his sister and for a moment, Alfred swore he was going to swallow her whole, before Ivan laughed slightly and responded.

"Yes, we will go and get something to eat, da?"

For a while after that, things seemed to return to a relative normality. Everyone was eating and no-one spoke, leading the group through a peaceful silence. That was, until Ivan started speaking again.

"So, Mr Jones… how good are you in battle?"

Alfred almost chocked on his meatballs.

"What!? What do you mean!?" Alfred had never heard a question like that before from anyone, let alone some man he had only met a day ago. Ivan kept smiling though, as if he had said nothing strange at all. In fact, he even seemed to be chuckling lightly as he spoke again.

"Sorry, my English is not very good. How easily can you crush a man's skull, is that easier to understand?"

Alfred didn't even respond this time, frozen in shock. Ivan continued on, however, seeming not to notice.

"Mr. Jones, you must know that every man must be strong enough to look after what is their own, correct? Now, I know some people where you come from may think physical strength is barbaric, but for people in my homeland, it is a valuable resource. For that reason, I wish to know how strong you are…"

Out of Alfred's sight, the three men at the table started quivering and one even seemed to be praying. Natalia was quiet, her gaze transfixed on Ivan with what was probably meant to be an innocent smile on her face, though it came out as slightly demented. Kat just sat there, hands in her lap as she watched Ivan and Alfred – seemingly not worried at all by the negative turn of events. None of them moved from where they were seated.

People from other tables, however, started to move away, evacuating the area as quickly as humanly possible after hearing what Ivan said. Alfred could faintly hear some of them mumbling phrases like 'Poor guy' and 'I bet you five quid that Ivan tears him apart'.

Soon, a rather considerable area had cleared around them as word had gotten around, and a border in the shape of a ring was formed by the bodies of the people who had fled the battle zone.

Alfred could see the situation spiralling out of control right before his eyes. Ivan didn't seem to have noticed the other people moving away from the area, his gaze directed straight at Alfred as he stood from his chair. It seemed like Ivan's eyes were tearing into his soul, his aura almost physically crushing Alfred. Of course, Alfred did not wish to fight, - both because he was not a very good fighter and he did not wish to hurt Kat's brother – and so he stood slowly, arms raised in a sign of surrender. Ivan must have thought he was rising to his challenge – or maybe he didn't – and wasted no time in moving his right hand, now curled into a fist, forward. The ensuing blow hit Alfred like a ton of bricks and he was sure he had been lifted off the ground slightly as he stumbled back, reversing into another table.

"Alfred!"

In his agony caused by the punch to his chest, Alfred could barely recognize his younger brother's voice, shouting across the room. He must have noticed something bad was happening and now he was at the edge of the crowd, trying to fight his way through the people who were trying to hold him back, telling him it was too dangerous to intervene. Alfred tried to respond to his brother but found as he breathed in to talk, he felt an incredible pain in his chest, like his ribs had been broken. No words came out.

Ivan walked away from the table - leaving the still sitting occupants behind -, going up to Alfred.

"Does it hurt, Mr. Jones?" he asked, his voice sounding oddly genuine despite the circumstances.

Alfred didn't respond. He couldn't respond, not in the condition he was in.

It seemed he didn't need to though, as a scream of pain pierced the otherwise silent room and Alfred looked behind Ivan's frame to see Matthew running towards them, the man he had kicked in the crotch to get through lying on the floor.

"Get off him, you Ruski bastard!" he shouted, before jumping onto Ivan's back, trying to wrap his arm around his neck and cut off his air supply.

Ivan barely even seemed to notice as he swung himself to Alfred's right and flung Matthew off, leaving the other to soar through the air before falling heavily on the floor some feet away. Alfred tried to shout at his brother to get away and let him handle this, but the words still didn't come out. And Ivan wasn't done yet. He turned to Matthew, a smile still fixed onto his face as he walked up to him, speaking in a sing-song voice.

"So, you wish to take your brother's place, da?"

Matthew looked positively terrified, though he tried to hide it under bravado.

"Just try and punch me, poser! I'll show you what someone from Canada can do!"

Ivan paused for a moment, then laughed, loudly and deeply. Unsurprisingly, it sent a chill down everyone's spines.

"A brave man. A stupid man." He said, moving closer to Matthew – who was now scrambling onto his feet.

Ivan was getting closer to Matthew now and all Alfred could do was stand there, the pain preventing him from moving as the terrible scene unfolded before him. Matthew stood, frozen in place with fear, his arms raised into a boxing stance, though the form was poor and his whole body was shaking.

"You want me to try and punch you, yes?" Ivan asked, not expecting an answer "well, let me try then."

Ivan drew up his right fist, about to attack again. Time seemed to go into slow motion as the crowd held its breath. The fist flew down, like a rocket plummeting to Earth. The people at Ivan's table still sat, watching this as if it were normal.

Matthew closed his eyes, not wishing to see the Russian's fist make contact with his face. He'd done it now, pushed his luck one too many times.

A millisecond passed.

The half a second.

Then a whole second.

Matthew opened his eyes, wondering where the fist had gone when he suddenly saw something that amazed him. Alfred was there, standing between Ivan and Matthew. He was holding Ivan's right wrist, stopping his punch halfway. Maybe his luck would hold out after all.

Alfred grunted loudly as he held Ivan's right wrist with his right hand. His ribs were still painful, but now his system was filling with adrenaline and a will to protect his family. Ivan's expression finally broke from his calm smile, a twinge of a frown dancing across his lips. Alfred didn't waste time. He pulled Ivan's wrist, moving it from Alfred's left to his right, making Ivan twist around. Then, with Ivan now facing the other way, his arms tangled together, Alfred raised his right leg and kicked Ivan in the small of the back, letting go of his wrist and sending Ivan hurtling forward into the table where Kat and the other's still sat. Without his arms to balance, he toppled on top of it, causing his face to plummet down into Alfred's unfinished bowl of meatballs and spaghetti.

Laughter exploded from the crowd as Ivan raised his head, now with tomato sauce smeared onto it. Alfred stayed silent, waiting for Ivan's next move. He may have not been a good fighter, but having a man like Francis as his father had made him learn a few things about self-defence.

Matthew stood behind him, still scared but ultimately more afraid for his older sibling then himself.

Ivan turned back around, his head whipping to the side like a rattle-snake. His smile had turned into a flat-line as he glared daggers at Alfred.

"It seems you are fighting back… good…family seems to be important to you."

Alfred didn't respond, partially because of the pain and partly because he felt he didn't need to.

Ivan didn't say anything more, nodding his head before he started moving forward. At first it was slow, like the prowling of a beast, then it increased slowly. It increased until Ivan was suddenly running at Alfred full pelt, looking more akin to a train then a man. Alfred stood his ground, unable to move due to his ribs. Ivan had his fist raised and was ready to place the finishing move on Alfred. Alfred seemed strangely calm in this situation, taking a somewhat deep breath, -or at least as much as his injury allowed. He closed his eyes, moved forward and crouched low, punching forward. For a moment, it seemed like nothing had happened. The room was completely silent.

Alfred opened his eyes to see Ivan there, his face contorted in pain. He then saw Ivan's legs give out from underneath him, leading him to collapse on the floor in a heap.

There was silence for another moment.

Then cheers.

Alfred raised from his crouched position, completely shocked as to the turn of events. He could just barely hear Matthew behind him, cheering loudest of all.

"You did it Alfie!" he screamed in relief.

Alfred smiled, though it was mostly forced. Yes, he had done it. But what exactly had he done? He turned to Matthew, not speaking as he just stood there in dumb shock. There were so many questions flying around his head. The pain in his ribs wasn't helping. It felt like they were broken, though he doubted it was that serious.

He probably shouldn't have turned away.

The cheers of the crowd suddenly started to die as there was grunting from the floor. Ivan rose slowly but he rose. Eventually he was standing again, this time behind Alfred. His face was angry, truly angry. Then he smiled. He grabbed Alfred around his chest and pulled him up, giving him a bear hug as he happily said.

"Welcome to the family, brother."

That was all Alfred heard, because as soon as he heard that, the pain finally overcame him and he fainted, right there in Ivan's arms.


	9. The Worst Way to Meet the Family

It had been two weeks since the fight in the canteen with Ivan. Surprisingly, not much had changed since then. After Alfred had passed out, he'd been carried to the on-sight medical office by Ivan and woke up to the message that his ribs hadn't been broken, just bruised. The nurse said they'd take about three to six weeks to heal and that Alfred shouldn't do anything too vigorous until then. The agonizing pain in Alfred's ribs started to die down, mostly due to the aid of pain-killers. For about a week after the incident, Alfred expected there to be a report about the fight. But nothing came. All the witnesses had been silenced and the CCTV footage of the canteen that day had all been mysteriously deleted. Alfred didn't exactly know why, but he guessed it was due, in no small part, to Ivan. So, even if Alfred had wanted to fire Ivan, which had crossed his mind, he had no evidence about what had occurred, except his injury. And, somehow, he doubted that even if he had tried to make a case to his higher-ups about the fight, they wouldn't have done anything. Ivan was just that threatening.

That was another thing too. Despite what had happened that day, Alfred still sat at Kat and Ivan's table every single lunch-time which left the cause of the fight unexplained. Ivan treated him like a blood brother, joking with him and telling him various tales of his exploits in his homeland. Kat seemed to be much more relaxed as well, as if the fight had caused a weight to fall off her shoulders. Even the other people at the table were beginning to talk to him, even if it was with a great deal of hesitation. Matthew also didn't seem to have changed much, though it seemed that Alfred saving his face from being horribly disfigured had made the other completely forget Alfred punching him in the balls. He was even nice to him, for the first week at least. Needless to say, because of the incident, Alfred had been unable to meet Arthur. He still cooked food for him though. He'd make him a meal in the morning and one at night and would leave it hidden within the bushes outside, being careful to stay out of sight of his brother. The next morning or in the evening, he'd find the plate again in the bushes the bordered the forest, licked clean. It always made Alfred smile, if only slightly.

Anyway, two weeks had passed since the incident and it was a weekend, meaning Alfred and Matthew had nothing to do but lay about the house, watching TV or movies or doing general housework. Alfred cooked breakfast that morning, scrambled egg with bacon, and found that they were running out of supplies. After putting the plate outside for Arthur, he walked back in and to the living-room, where Matthew was sitting on the couch in his polar bear pyjamas, watching a weird show about three guys trying to make money in a small American cul-de-sac.

"Matthew, I'm going out to buy food. Do you want anything?"

"A buxom babe?" Matthew replied immediately, not even looking away from the TV screen.

"Very funny." Alfred said, his tone heavy with sarcasm.

"I'm full of comedy gold, Alfie~"

Alfred sighed, though he had a tinge of a smile. He really didn't know what to do when it came to Matthew. He exited the living-room, grabbing his car-keys from their hook and opening the front door.

"Goodbye Matthew."

"Yep!" Matthew absently called back.

Alfred shook his head and left the house, closing the front door.

Soon, Matthew heard the sound of a car engine revving, coming to life. The sound of the car faded as Alfred drove into the distance. Matthew continued to watch the cartoon on TV for a bit before rolling onto his back, looking up at the ceiling and sighing. Matthew disliked weekends. They were boring back in America and they were boring in England. It would have been better if he'd at least had some friends – heck, even a sex-buddy - to go out with, but, so far, he didn't have any and even if he did there wouldn't be much to do anyway. The nearest town was a thirty minute drive from here.

"God, why am I cursed to live in the boring-ass countryside with my prude-ass brother with nothing to do but watch some stupid-ass cartoons?"

Of course, there was no answer. Even if there was, Matthew wasn't religious and would have ignored it. He continued to roll around on the sofa, getting increasingly bored as time went by. His brother wouldn't be back for ages, considering the closest store was about 10 miles from here.

"Come onnnnnn," Matthew whined, "at least give me _something_ to do!"

_Knock, Knock._

His wish was granted.

Matthew whipped his head over to where the sound had come from. He found himself looking at the living-room window. Matthew always wondered what the point of that window was, considering the only thing you could see out of it was the edge of the dense forest that surrounded the house. He waited for a moment, then two, then three. He laid back down again, deciding the incident was just an illusion of the mind, caused of sheer boredom, when it happened again.

_Knock, Knock._

The knocking was slightly more forceful this time. Matthew knew he wasn't just hearing things now and got up from the sofa, the TV continuing on in the background. He moved slowly towards the window, cautious of the possibility that it may be some kind of beast from the forest (though he didn't know of any animal who could knock on windows).

As he looked outside he saw the things he had seen many times before: trees, grass and a bush or two, which marked the outline of the forest. There was nothing strange and Matthew could feel himself becoming deeply confused before there was a small rustling sound. It was the smallest of movements, but one of the bushes was twitching as if it were alive. Matthew smiled; this was getting interesting.

Matthew rushed out of the living-room, not caring to change out of his pyjamas as he put on his shoes, leaving the front-door keys behind.

"I wonder what kind of creature you are…" he mumbled as he closed in on the bush. He paused right next to the bush and then pounced on it, digging through it with his hands. To his surprise, he didn't find an animal but a ceramic plate, much like the ones in their kitchen. No, it was one of the one from their kitchen, it was the slightly cracked one from when Matthew had dropped it while trying to wash it. What was it doing out here though? Matthew tried to answer the question in his head, grabbing the plate, when he suddenly heard something from up above. It was a chuckling sound, deep and guttural. Matthew looked up into the trees, trying to find where the sound was coming from. He was met with a dark silhouette. The only thing that stood out from the shadowed figure was poison green eyes which seemed to shine in the gloom of the trees.

"W-who are you?" Matthew stuttered. No-one lived anywhere near here, except for him and Alfred. Who was this person, and why was he up a tree?

"Follow." the shadow replied abruptly. The shadow then turned around and shot off from the branch, running from branch to branch deeper into the forest.

Matthew didn't know what was going on and felt himself hesitate for a moment before he gulped and ran into the forest. He didn't want to seem weak by not following the figure and his curiosity drove him as he followed the silhouette.

Deeper and deeper into the forest they went, Matthew almost tripped a few times on exposed tree roots and old dead logs. He almost lost his way a few times before he suddenly ended up in a clearing. The clearing was familiar, with a small pond of rain-water and patches of flowers here and there. Matthew realised it was where he'd found Alfred when he had wandered into the forest on the first day and not returned. He looked up into the high branches, expecting to find the silhouette again to ask why he had been led here, to find it had completely disappeared.

"What? Where'd that bastard go?" Matthew said, looking around everywhere for the figure to no avail.

Meanwhile, up in the heights of the trees, Arthur looked down on the man who had invaded his territory and growled. Arthur had been napping when he'd heard loud footsteps on the forest floor and had smelt a scent which was entirely unfamiliar to him. He had woken up to find a human in the clearing. He had grunted, instantly becoming annoyed. Only his family and Alfred were allowed here. He observed the blond-haired man to find it was the same one who had come on the day Alfred had returned. His tails flicked with irritation and his eyebrows furrowed. He didn't know why the other was here and not Alfred, but he knew he needed to get him out of here. And quickly.

Matthew was still looking around, unconsciously holding the ceramic plate close to his chest like a shield. Besides the clearing and the blue sky above, he couldn't see much else, everything being obscured by trees and other foliage. He should just turn around go back right now, he told himself, leave now and forget that figure in the trees. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. The silhouetted figure couldn't have been human. The way he ran from tree to tree with such ease made him seem more beast than man. His curiosity kept him there, as it had kept him moving earlier on. He was still looking when he heard a dull thud behind him of something, or someone, hitting the ground. He started to turn, speaking as he did so.

"There you are, okay, who the hell are you and why did you bring me he-"

He cut himself off as he noticed the figure in front of him. It was a male, half-naked except for some old torn jeans. His eyes were green, just like the figure's eyes from before, though these ones were a darker emerald green. What drew the most attention however, were the pair of fox ears that poked out from the man's head and the two fox tails which trailed behind him, flicking to and fro in agitation.

"What are you doing here?" the fox-man said, his accent definitely British and just as agitated as his body language.

Matthew didn't speak, rendered speechless by the figure in front of him. He was definitely not human, not with those ears and tails.

The man repeated his words, his tone even more annoyed now, his eyebrows furrowing and a wrinkle appeared on his forehead as he frowned.

"What are you doing here? Speak."

Matthew, this time, decided he should try and speak. He gulped and then took a deep breath.

"My name is Matthew." he said, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.

Matthew may have been patronizing, but he knew when not to act stupid.

Arthur glared at the intruder as he said his name, picking out the accent in his voice. He wasn't from around here, in fact, he sounded a bit like Alfred. He knew there was probably a very good explanation for this, but his mind couldn't help formulating various ridiculous theories as to who the blond-haired man in front of him was.

Maybe he was a foreign shape-shifter who was leeching off of Alfred. Maybe he was a human spy who worked for the people who wanted to find mythical creatures to experiment on and was living with Alfred to look less suspicious. Or maybe, just maybe, he was Alfred's lover.

The last one, surprisingly, made Arthur angrier than the other two did. He could feel himself starting to grow angrier, as jealousy and worry kicked in. His eyes started to glow, his magical power leaking out as his emotions started to go out of control.

Matthew felt uncomfortable as the fox man glared at him. He was wondering whether he should make a break for it when the man's eyes started glowing. At first, it was only very slightly, more like a sparkle than a glow. But as time passed, the sparkle became brighter and more constant until it was obvious that they were glowing. Matthew could feel the atmosphere starting to become heavy and decided he should act submissive. After all, this guy seemed like he could do much worse than cave his face in. He raised his arms into a surrendering sign, holding the plate up in his right hand as he tried to calm the fox man down.

"Look, fox-guy, I don't know how I made you mad, but we don't have to fight do we?"

Arthur watched as Matthew brought his arms up in a submissive gesture. It was meant to calm him down, but it did the exact opposite. He noticed the other was holding up a ceramic disk in his right hand and Arthur looked at it to see it was the plate that Alfred had been using to feed him for the past two weeks. His mind took that information and combined it with his earlier theories as to who Matthew was. The results were not good as bleak ideas came into his mind. Images of Alfred being held in a cell. Sounds of him calling for help, though no-one would hear him. This man keeping him captive and possibly torturing him. He growled, then leapt forward and grabbed Matthew by the cuff of his clothing and hauled him up into the air.

"Where is he!?" he shouted.

Matthew suddenly felt himself be hauled up into the air by the fox man. He made a shocked noise, then looked at the man with a mix of confusion and fear. What the hell was this crazy fox thing talking about, where was who?

He tried to voice his thoughts but was cut off again by the man shouting at him.

"Where is he!? Tell me now or I'll make sure you never see the light of day again!"

Matthew felt himself start to shake uncontrollably as the threat sank in. He normally wouldn't have even flinched at the threat. But, the way that the man said it, made him feel like he should fear for his life. He felt his words become jumbled in his head. He couldn't speak.

"You won't tell me?" the fox man continued, "then I'll burn you to ashes."

The surrounding air started to get hotter and Matthew found himself beginning to sweat despite it having been cool just a moment ago. The heat continued to rise and Matthew looked down at the fox man to find the hand that wasn't holding him up was now encased in blue flame. Matthew started to struggle now as the heat increased further. The fox man held him in place however, his mind blank with rage as he slowly started to bring his other hand to Matthew's face. The distance started to close, slowly, slowly.

Fifteen centimetres away.

Ten centimetres.

Five.

"Arthur!"


	10. Of Tears and Fireflies

At hearing the shout, Arthur stopped his hand. The blue fire fizzled out immediately, as if it had never existed and he slowly stopped glowing. He dropped Matthew onto the floor, whose eyes were wide with fear. He seemed to be slightly shaking, though he tried to hide it as he saw his brother come out from the trees. Alfred was panting, having run the whole way here from the house, his wound hurting from the activity, though he didn't show it.

He'd returned home from the shopping to find the front door unlocked and his brother missing. He'd quickly gone into a panic, running around to try and find Matthew. He had looked outside too and that was when he had noticed the plate he had been using to feed Arthur had disappeared from the bush he and Arthur used as an unofficial drop point. His mind had taken seconds to link the dots and so lead to him being here. It looked like he'd got here just in time. He looked over at Matthew, still in his pyjamas and then at Arthur, who looked both shocked, confused and relieved all at once.

"Alfi-"

"What were you about to do to my brother!?" Alfred exclaimed, cutting of Arthur mid-word.

Arthur's eyes noticeably widened, his tails stopping dead in their wagging before flopping down. He paused, not speaking. He was just now realizing what he had been about to do and who to. When he realized it fully, his face drained of colour.

"I-I'm sorr-"

"What were you about to do?!" Alfred shouted again. Alfred may have thought many unsavoury things about his brother, in fact the whole of his family. But, he would not and could not let any of them get hurt. It was why he had saved him from Ivan two weeks ago.

Arthur jerked back as if he had been physically hurt at the volume and tone of Alfred's words, ears flattening against his head and stooping slightly.

"It's called Fox Fire… It's a manifestation of our magical power…"

"And you were going to burn my brother with it." Alfred said curtly, crossing his arms and glaring at Arthur.

There was a pause, a long pause. Arthur scratched his neck, feeling ashamed. He had to speak the truth though, he couldn't lie to Alfred.

"…Yes… but that was only because I thoug-"

"You thought wrong." Alfred said again, his sky blue eyes deadly serious. Arthur felt as if he was being stabbed by those eyes.

Alfred looked over at Matthew, who was still on the ground, still shaking from the shell shock of having almost having been killed by the fox-man, now dubbed Arthur by his brother. Matthew's mind was reeling and he found he couldn't move as thoughts swirled in and out of his mind. What the hell was Arthur? How did he know Alfred? What was going on in these god-damn woods?

Meanwhile, the conversation around him continued. Alfred stayed silent for a long while, looking at Matthew before turning back to Arthur, his eyes still dark.

"What do we do now?"

"…What?" the other responded cautiously, still stooped down in fear of the angry American.

"He's seen you, right? My brother doesn't know about you and what happened here when I was young…"

Arthur caught on from that. Alfred, despite everything, was still trying to protect him, protect his home. He knew his brother couldn't keep a secret like this, not even if he did trust him.

"Right…" he said slowly and turned to Matthew, who tried to shuffle away when Arthur approached him. It didn't do him much good as Arthur reached him and knelt by his side.

"I'm sorry." Arthur said as his eyes started glowing again. He raised a single finger and touched it to Matthew's forehead before the other could run away.

"You will not be able to remember what happened here today. Go home and go to bed and when you wake up, this will all be a nightmare."

Matthew's eyes were scared at first, then they started glowing as well, but only for a few seconds before they changed back to normal and suddenly became very sleepy. Arthur backed away, letting Matthew rise on his own.

Alfred didn't know what had occurred, but he assumed it was simply on of Arthur's powers and walked forward.

"Did you erase his memory?" he asked.

"No." Arthur replied matter-of-factly "we kitsunes may be powerful, but at the level I am at, I cannot erase a person's memory, only lock it away, like a trauma. He might as well have forgotten it though."

"Right." Alfred said, still not wholly understanding as he reached Matthew, who seemed to just barely be standing, and gave him his shoulder. Matthew instantly leaned on him with no snarky remarks and let Alfred help him towards the trees.

As they reached the edge, Alfred spoke again, looking away from Arthur.

"I'll be back later tonight. We'll talk then."

Arthur didn't respond verbally, though he nodded, knowing Alfred couldn't see him. Alfred didn't wait for him as he walked off, practically carrying Matthew with him.

It was 8 o'clock when Alfred left the house again. After taking Matthew home, which had been very difficult considering the terrain of the forest, he had put him back into his bed. Matthew had slept for a good three hours before waking up again and coming downstairs. As Arthur had said, he had no recollection of what had happened, all the way up to this morning. He did, however, say he'd had a killer nightmare. Alfred had stayed home the rest of the day, keeping an eye on his younger brother, who now seemed to be back to normal, snarky comments and all. Alfred had only left when Matthew had decided to go to sleep again, turning in early because there was nothing on TV and he said he felt completely shattered for some reason.

Alfred closed the front door behind him, locking it with a key before going off into the forest and to the clearing. It was even more difficult trying to traverse in the dark, but he managed it surprisingly well, as if his body knew exactly where the clearing was. As he approached the clearing, he noticed that it was lighter than the rest of the forest. As he got closer, he saw why. Fireflies, hundreds of them, were flying all around the clearing, lighting it up with their bodies. It was a beautiful sight. Among the fireflies, a figure stood, only a dark silhouette for a few moments before Alfred drew closer, enabling him to recognize who it was. It was Arthur, though it also seemed to not be him. He was facing away from Alfred and towards the small pool of rainwater, completely still, as if he were meditating.

"Arthur…?" Alfred said slowly, creeping forward slowly, feeling unnerved by Arthur's unusual silence.

Arthur's whole body twitched and his ears perked up for a moment before flattening against his head. He, however, didn't respond vocally.

"Arthur." Alfred said again, drawing himself up and with a more stern voice. After what Arthur had almost done earlier, it would have been nice to at least show some courtesy to Alfred.

Again there was no response, except for a single, strangled-sounding hiccup.

Alfred's eyes widened as he finally realized what was going on. He was crying. Arthur was crying. The cocky, fun-loving fox-man was crying.

But why?

"Arthur, turn around." Alfred said curtly, though he tried to soften his tone. He wasn't very good at comforting crying people – let alone fox-men. Arthur twitched again and now started trembling as Alfred closed in across the now seemingly infinite space between them.

"N-no…" he stuttered, trying hard to hide to hide the sadness in his voice.

It is needless to say that Alfred was feeling terrible at this point. He hadn't been that harsh, had he? Or did Arthur just hold him in such high regard that something like that was a deep blow? Words began to play in Alfred's head. Words of childish promise and endearment. Alfred shook his head, as if trying to force the words out of his mind. The more they played, the more he understood why Arthur was reacting the way he was and the more he felt bad.

At this point, he had finally reached Arthur, the buzzing of the fireflies seeming distant as time slowed and he grabbed Arthur's shoulders from behind and then proceeded to turn him around.

The fox-man did not resist, though he was still trembling.

When he was fully turned, it only confirmed what Alfred already knew. Arthur's eyes were red from crying and salty tears were still running out in an almost constant stream. His expression, which Alfred was so used to seeing smiling, was convulsed into a mix of regret, misery and fear.

"Arthur…" Alfred said sadly, incapable of saying much else. He didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," the other man said, looking down at the ground like a school-boy who was being told off by their teacher, "I really am."

It just kept repeating from there, like a chant or a magic spell, like Arthur thought that if he said it enough times, what he had done, or almost done, would be erased.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sor-"

"Stop!" Alfred finally exclaimed, no longer able to take the words and the feeling they gave him. The words played again. He gripped Arthur's bare shoulders tightly, barely even noticing what this might look like to someone else.

"Arthur, what you did was unforgivable. You could have almost killed my brother."

Arthur twitched at that and now tried even harder to hide his face from Alfred.

"But-"Alfred continued, "it isn't all your fault. I should have known this place was important to you, I should have remembered what you must feel about us humans… I shouldn't have shouted at you like that and not let you tell your own side… I'm sorry."

Arthur finally looked up into Alfred's eyes at this stage, his ears still flat against his head but his trembling now ceased as had his crying. Alfred took that as a positive sign and continued.

"So… if I forgive you, would you forgive me?"

Unknowingly, Alfred smiled as he said that, a warm, carefree - if maybe a slightly nervous - smile.

He was met with silence and thought he had maybe screwed it up when Arthur spoke.

"Idiot… how could I not forgive you when you use that smile of yours on me?"

Arthur's lips drew up in a smile and then he suddenly leapt forward, hugging Alfred tightly like a koala, wrapping his legs around Alfred's waist as well as his tails.

"Woah!" Alfred exclaimed, suddenly feeling quite top-heavy and noticing for the first time just how close they both were to the water's edge.

"Wait, Art-"

Getting closer.

"I'm going t-"

Balancing on the edge.

"Fall!"

Kersploosh!

Then they were both in the surprisingly deep pool of rainwater, swimming up and breaking the surface together. They looked at each other, eyes wide with the shock of falling into the water.

"I'm sor-"Arthur began to say before he was suddenly cut off by a light, breathy sound. He looked over to Alfred, eyes even wider than before, to see that he was laughing. Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.

Alfred couldn't help it, he really couldn't. This situation was ridiculous; he was swimming with a Kitsune in a deep pool of rainwater in the middle of a magical forest of which said Kitsune was king of. When he had stopped laughing, he looked at Arthur to find him staring with absolute amazement at Alfred, blood dripping from his nose.

"Hah, hah…" Alfred chuckled, swimming closer to the fox-man, "something wrong?"

A pause. Arthur was still staring at him.

"Arthur? Hey, are you ok-"He was stopped as Arthur suddenly came closer and kissed him directly on the lips. It was a strong, fiery kiss, something you wouldn't have expected from someone who had looked so weak just a few minutes ago.

When Arthur drew back, Alfred's eyes were a mix of hazed and wide. Arthur was a good kisser.

"What was that for?"

"I love you."

Alfred blushed heavily at the endearment, not used to hearing those words at all. To try and hide his embarrassment, he swept his arm across the water, spraying it in Arthur's direction.

"S-shut up!"

Arthur gave Alfred a questioning look before grinning and setting up his own counter attack.

After a while, the two of them really started to get into the childish water fight that had been created, laughing and jeering at each other like how they had in the past. It was the most fun that Alfred had had in god knows how long.

Eventually, the two of them moved to the shore, lifting themselves out, completely sopping wet, and laying on their backs in the grass. The fireflies continued to buzz above as they panted.

"Alfie?" Arthur said to Alfred after a short silence.

"Yeah?" Alfred said, smiling as he looked up into the night sky, not even caring that he had dropped his business tone and was now talking in a southern drawl.

"… When I was born, my mother was the only one there to look after me… She was a strong Kitsune, one of the strongest. She taught me how to survive and how to control my magic and everything." Arthur sighed, "But even she couldn't win against the odds stacked against us. By then, the war had mostly ended, though not entirely. We were found by humans and were told that if we did not wish to die, we would live under their control…"

Alfred stayed silent, like he had the last time Arthur had told him about his past.

"My mother… became an unwilling companion of the men of that group… she bore sons. My half-brothers."

"You have brothers?" Alfred questioned. He couldn't remember having seen them when he had first lived here. Arthur continued on though, as if he had never heard the question.

"After a couple of years, my mother couldn't take it anymore and stood up to the humans. She defeated them, at the cost of her own life. My brothers and I escaped, but before that, she told me; 'Protect this forest and your brothers from any humans who invade'."

Alfred twitched then, realizing something.

"Then why did you let me in?"

A pause, then Arthur turned and moved his body so he was now above Alfred, trapping the other with his arms. The light glistened off his wet skin and hair and it made him look… really sexy.

"Because you were just like me." He stated plainly, his face serious, "When I first saw you sitting down by a tree and crying, I learned that not all humans were bad. I protected you and when your father found you, I had already fallen in love, though it was only childish then. I didn't expect anything to happen…" Arthur moved down and kissed Alfred on the lips again, this time a soft one, "but then you came back."

Alfred blushed and questioned in his mind why he hadn't bothered moving or why he was letting himself be pinned like this. He stuttered as he spoke, cursing his lack of understanding in matters of romance.

"D-don't do that."

"What?" Arthur asked, a grin on his face "You like my kisses too much?"

"As if!" Alfred said, tilting his body to the side and rolling over, trapping Arthur below him now. Instead of looking shocked though, the fox-man just laughed.

"You're really cute… you always were."

Alfred blushed again, but this time was determined to take a more dominant role.

"No, you're the cute one!" He paused, then blushed even more. He hadn't thought of what he had said.

That did make Arthur look surprised, but it was short-lived as Alfred got up, getting off of Arthur.

As he stood, he felt an ache in his ribs and hissed. It was only now that he remembered that he was still injured.

"I have to go." Alfred said curtly, trying to put up a front so that Arthur wouldn't notice. If he did, he'd ask questions and Alfred didn't want another incident like the one earlier today.

"Why?" Arthur asked, curious as to why Alfred's face was making such a strange expression, like he was trying to hide something.

"Because I have work to do, a stupid brother to look after and I'm sure you do too."

Arthur got up slowly, eventually standing with Alfred. He was smiling, if a little sadly.

"Okay… will you still make me food? You're a great chef."

Alfred looked away at that, blushing to his ears. He wasn't used to being complimented. He started to walk towards the edge of the clearing, speaking as he did so.

"S-sure, I will… and I'll hide it in a better place this time."

Arthur smiled as Alfred left.

"You're so cute, my darling."

Then his face suddenly went serious and he looked up into the branches of the nearby trees. He couldn't see anyone, but one question remained.

Who had lead Matthew here?


	11. A Friend in Need

When Alfred returned to the house, he was wet through, practically frozen and so tired he was almost falling asleep whilst standing. None of this though, detracted from the blush on his face or the strange fuzzy feeling in his chest. He felt scared, more scared than he had ever been, but also strangely happy. He didn't know what was going on, but still, he couldn't help but feel that he had felt like this before. As he walked up to his room, dragging his wet feet along the ground, barely even trying to not wake up his younger brother, he found he was having trouble erasing the image of the wet kitsunes body from his mind as well.

By the time he fell asleep the events of the day seemed to already be starting to fade away and dim, burying themselves in his deep unconscious.

By the next day, things seemed to have become normal again. Alfred work up early, as he had become accustomed to do lately, and prepared breakfast for himself, Matthew and Arthur. He took Arthur's plate outside, this time moving it deeper into the forest so that Matthew wouldn't find it again. When Matthew came downstairs, he looked like his usual self as well. He had changed out of his dirtier-than-normal polar bear pyjamas into his business suit. He also seemed to no longer be physically exhausted as he had been the day before.

"You got something to tell me, hoser?" Matthew asked suddenly, rubbing his eyes as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, looking at Alfred.

Alfred suddenly froze, visibly twitching at the question. Had Matthew remembered what had happened the previous day?

"W-what are you talking about?" Alfred stuttered back, trying to keep his face as straight as possible, turning around and dishing out his and Matthew's portions of breakfast; toast and scrambled egg, to keep himself occupied and hopefully less suspicious.

"Well," Matthew began, dragging out the 'e' for dramatic effect as he walked closer to Alfred, "it's just that…"

"Just that what?" Alfred asked, body going stiff as he felt his brother approach him.

Had he made it too obvious that he was faking his obliviousness?

Had Arthur's magic failed?

How was he going to get out of this?

"Are you a girl?" Matthew asked, his voice honeyed.

Alfred's eyes widened for a brief second in shock, before he raised his left brow in confusion.

"What…?" he said flatly, utterly lost, turning around to see his brother was grinning.

"Well, you're cooking so often lately, I swear I must have gotten your gender wrong for all these years." Matthew then started laughing, loving the look on his older brother's face as he tried to decode what was happening. He was happily surprised that such an obvious lead-up to a joke had caused Alfred to worry so much, but he didn't read into it, too caught up in watching his normally stoic brother's reaction. When Alfred finally noticed what his brother had done, he had to hide a look of relief as he sighed and pushed his still chuckling brother away from him.

"All right, all right, I get it. Ha-ha." He said flatly, "Now eat your breakfast, or would you rather me take it away from you?"

Matthew stopped laughing then, his eyes widening in a 'you-wouldn't-dare' look, to which Alfred returned his own 'yes-i-would' one. Matthew then slinked off to where his food was, pouting, and started eating. He may make fun of his brother for it, but Alfred could cook, at least better than him. The only thing he could really make were pancakes. Alfred, meanwhile, walked over to his own plate, hiding a half-smile. At least Matthew hadn't remembered what had happened nor had it changed him.

From there, the day seemed to go quite peacefully. The weather was good despite the fact it was now most definitely autumn, the sun just poking out from behind the clouds, casting a small bit of light warmth onto the world. The drive to work was almost leisurely, though Matthew did have to scream once when Alfred almost drove them into a ditch. Even work seemed to be going well. The company was on a high at the moment, surfing the waves of a barrage of new hit projects. For once, Alfred was starting to enjoy doing his paperwork as he read the rave reviews of some of the projects he himself had personally pushed. Everything seemed to be getting better and by the time lunch rolled around, all the things that had occurred yesterday seemed like a bad dream.

"S…?"

Yeah, it had all been a bad dream.

"M…r…"

Just a bad dream. Arthur wouldn't do that again.

"Jo…?"

Just a bad dream. Just a bad with a wet, cute/sexy Arthur below/above him, jeans wet through with no shirt on so that Alfred could see his bright pi-

"Mr Jones!"

The exclamation caught Alfred by surprise, Arthur's image rocketing out of his conscious mind as he realized where he was. It was lunch-time and he was sitting at his regular table. Everyone was present, including Ivan and Kat. They were all looking at him, with varying degrees of confusion, except Ivan, who smiled as always.

"Oh." Alfred gawked, realizing he had been rude and hadn't heard anything of what had been said.

"Are you alright, Mr Jones?" Ivan asked, not a flicker of worry passing through his expression, "you seemed to be quite a distance from us it seemed. Is there something bothering you right now?"

Alfred could feel the dark aura intensifying and was quick to stutter out a response to calm the raging beast that was the demon HR employee.

"N-no, it's fine, really. I'm just tired lately." He turned to Kat, who was sitting next to her brother, and tried to give her a look that conveyed his need for help. Despite everything that had happened, including Alfred's apparent acceptance into the 'family' (whatever that meant), he still had trouble dealing with most of the people who occupied the table on a daily basis.

Kat looked confused for a moment, then smiled. Alfred hoped that meant she had gotten the message. She cleared her throat, distracting Ivan away from Alfred as she began to repeat what she had been saying earlier.

"Well, I just got a message this morning from my department's boss that someone had phoned in, saying he has a new idea for our company."

"Hmm… Are you sure about that? I haven't heard anything about it." Alfred responded, reeling through his memory to try and find any piece of paperwork which had mentioned such an idea, to no avail.

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" Kat cheered happily, "I may be clumsy, but I know a good idea when I see one!" Alfred raised his eyebrows. Kat had never talked about what she did in the company. It wasn't really that a surprise, considering Kat's mannerisms and… assets, for her to be a Public Relations Officer. Well, at least it made more sense than her brother working with people.

While Alfred was lost in thought, Kat's excitement suddenly turned downcast, as if some thought had just come into her head.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Alfred panicked. It was almost unheard of for Kat to be genuinely sad, and it always had an effect on him.

Ivan chose to step in, his dark aura returned to its normal level.

"You see, Mr. Jones, my sister cannot drive and the man who had called said he could not meet up in any other place than in the next town over from here, which is a good thirty minutes' drive from here. I would normally drive her, but sadly, I cannot take her due to… work complications."

The pieces began to click together slowly, before Alfred realized the situation.

"Oh. Yes… I see," he paused feeling strangely crest-fallen. Silence reigned for a few minutes before an idea suddenly flickered into Alfred's mind. "Wait… what about if I drive her?"

Kat's face brightened with a smile as she looked at Alfred, her eyes practically gleaming.

"Oh, are you sure Mr Jones, Sir? I don't want to be a bother."

Kat's happiness was contagious, as Alfred half-smiled, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"It is no trouble, you've been so kind to me for all this time, I feel like I should repay the debt somehow. And besides, this helps the company too, right? Why would a good manager not want to help you?"

Kat seemed to smile more at that and looked excitedly over to Ivan.

"Is it alright, brother?"

Ivan paused, then smiled, though now it seemed less fake than before.

"Okay, dear sister of mine, you can go. But don't be a bother to Mr. Jones, okay?"

"I won't, I promise!" Kat exclaimed.

After that, they talked about when and where the meeting would be and set up other plans. The meeting was going to be in the nearest town, after work on the next day and would last for thirty minutes. So he decided it would be best if he waited until the meeting ended.

That night, as Alfred and Matthew drove home, silence seemed to be the conversation of the day. Until Matthew decided to speak.

"Sooooooooo…" he started. Alfred knew this wasn't going to be a good conversation.

"What is it, Matthew?" Alfred replied coolly.

"Aw, what? What's with the tone? Are you still mad about this morning?" Sarcasm permeated Matthew's words. Yep, definitely not going to be a good conversation, though when was it ever?

"Well, whatever," Matthew continued, "I'm proud of you."

Now that was shocking.

"What?" Alfred said in honest befuddlement, glancing away from the road, quickly looking back before he veered sharply to the right. He corrected the car. "What is there to be proud of?"

"What is there to be proud of?" he said.

"Well, I just didn't think you had it in you. I mean I was a bit pissed before because she saw the plain you and not your awesome younger brother, but now I'm just so proud."

"Proud of what? And who is 'she'?"

"You really don't know. It's Kat, dude, you just went from the penalty box to a natural hat-trick."

Great, now came the ice hockey metaphors.

"I mean you got a proper date with her, you hoser."

"What!?" Alfred exclaimed, almost swerving to the left and into a ditch before calming himself down, "it is not a date." He stated.

"Oh yeah, and I'm not a beast in bed."

"It's not, it's just something for work. How did you know anyway?"

"News travels fast in the corporate world, plus, you have a surprisingly loud voice."

Alfred blushed at that, he hadn't been that loud, had he?

"But anyway, I wish you all the luck in the world." Matthew seemed to have stopped, which made Alfred feel relieved for a short few moments before he chimed back in again.

"Oh. And most chicks dig skin-colour condoms."

"SHUT UP!" Alfred shouted, blushing up to his ears while Matthew laughed his as off.


	12. Not a Date

It wasn't a date.

Despite everything Alfred said yesterday to his brother about the meeting being just a job for work, both during and after the drive home, he still found himself repeating those words in his head every five minutes. In fact, he'd been so caught up in reasserting that truth that he had almost forgotten to make dinner that night or even breakfast the next day, much to the amusement of his brother.

While we're on that subject, Matthew hadn't stopped smiling all day, which disconcerted Alfred in many ways. It had been even worse when Alfred talked to him at lunch, after accidentally bumping into him while getting his meal.

* * *

"Sooooooooooooooooooooo…."

Alfred quickly learned to dread those two letters with a passion, especially when his brother said them.

"What?"

"Where you gonna take her?" Matthew asked in a way that was almost innocent, almost.

"I'm not taking her anywhere!" Alfred insisted as quietly as possible, now suddenly self-conscious of his volume, thanks to his brother.

"What?!" Matthew exclaimed, making himself loud on purpose, so it seemed to Alfred.

"I've told you before, it's just for work."

"And I've said before, that's bullcrap,", mocked Matthew, "look, hoser, this is probably the one and only chance you have with a babe like that and I'm not just going to stand around and let you lose it."

Before Alfred could protest again, Matthew was suddenly right up against his body. Alfred was about to kick his brother away, when Matthew suddenly drew back. Alfred then looked down and saw that Matthew had slipped a card into his front pocket. He knew he shouldn't have, but he reached for it and pulled it out. It read:

**Kubu Gan Gilian**

The Best Chinese Restaurant in Rural England

The rest of the card was filled with an address, which happened to be in the same town where the meeting was going to be.

"Wha-"

Before Alfred could even begin to ask when Matthew had gotten this card, Matthew cut in.

"I got this from some guy who works in marketing. Said it's a good place for couples."

"Bu-"

Matthew grinned.

"No problem Big Bro, just doing my bit!"

With that, Matthew scampered off with his tray of food, leaving Alfred, staring dumbly at the card. In the end, he decided it wasn't worth throwing away. But, he definitely wasn't going to use that place on this business venture that-totally-wasn't-a-date.

* * *

Apart from that, the day had been normal. Same boring paperwork, same boring people, same boring everything. Then, before Alfred could wonder where the time had gone, it was almost five in the afternoon, almost time to finish up work and drive Kat to the place where she would be meeting the mysterious inventor.

Alfred wouldn't admit he was nervous to anyone, not like he had anyone to whom it would be right to admit it, but he couldn't help the feeling of butterflies in his stomach or the fact he kept straightening out his suit every six minutes. He didn't know why, but he kept feeling like his tongue had inflated in his mouth, making him unable to talk normally.

It'll be fine, he thought to himself as he sat in the reception room of the company, waiting for Kat.

Matthew managed to persuade some poor man in another department to drive him home. Alfred told him that he wouldn't be too long. Matthew had snickered,

"Every-time I've heard that line in a movie, the brother always ends up seeing the main character the next morning, covered with kisses and more besides."

Alfred had blushed vividly, sending Matthew running off, laughing.

"Mr Jones, sir?" A certain female voice chimed in curiously.

Alfred shook his head, suddenly realizing he had been in deep thought.

"Huh? Oh, it's you Kat. Sorry about that…" He rubbed the back of his neck. He was being so unprofessional right now.

"Oh, it's no problem Mr Jones," Kat responded, putting her hands out in front of her like she was set to make an apology.

Alfred decided to move the topic on.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes!" Kat sang, her voice heavily laced with excitement.

Alfred smiled, if only slightly. It was rare to see someone like Kat in the corporate world.

"Let's go then," Alfred said, getting up from where he had been sitting and leading Kat outside to his car.

To say the least, she seemed to be stunned.

"Is this your car, Mr Jones?"

"Yes."

Alfred swore he heard Kat squeal.

"That's cool!"

Alfred turned to Kat, shock clear on his face. It sounded so strange to hear the slang coming from Kat's mouth.

"You like cars?"

"Like them? I've wanted to be a race-car driver since I was a little girl!"

Now that was just too strange of an image not to snicker. Alfred covered his mouth and quickly apologized.

"Sorry, it's just… I don't see many women who are interested in cars."

"You don't need to apologize Mr. Jones. It is a bit of a strange image, isn't it?"

Alfred didn't want to answer that; he didn't want to insult Kat any more than he might already have.

"You don't need to call me Mr. Jones all of the time, Kat. Just call me Alfred, it's easier."

Kat's face seemed to brighten up all the more.

"Okay Mr. Jon- I mean… Alfred…"

Alfred half-smiled and got into the car, Kat bounding over to the passenger seat and getting in without another word.

* * *

The journey to the town was quite uneventful. Kat and Alfred talked amicably on the way about various things, mostly work-related. By the time they got into town, the sky was beginning to darken as the day ended. Alfred almost forgot it was turning towards autumn now.

With some guidance from Kat, the two managed to find some parking space and were soon walking towards the meeting place.

"It was very nice of you to drive me here, Alfred." Kat said as they walked.

"No, it was no problem at all. All part of being a good person."

Alfred saw Kat smile, though it seemed different from before. More… blissful?

"Yes, I suppose it is."

Soon, they reached the place where supposedly the inventor was meant to meet them. It was a small park, square in shape, with four separate paths which segmented four small gardens. At the center of the park, where all the paths led, was the centrepiece, a fountain.

"Here it is!" Kat exclaimed, almost running down the path to reach the centre where the fountain bubbled happily. There were a few benches nearby, some occupied by couples going out dates. Alfred followed after Kat, feeling slightly nervous as he sat down beside her on one of the unoccupied benches.

"So, when is he coming?" he asked, trying to decrease the feeling of unease building in his chest. He was missing something, something important.

"He should be here any minute now." Kat said quickly, looking around excitedly like a young child.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then thirty.

As the thirty minute mark passed, Alfred felt , in the pit of his stomach, this man wouldn't be coming.

That was when the phone-call came.

_Bring-Bring!_

Came the sound of the tinny ring-tone. Kat quickly picked up her phone from her pocket, standing up, and swiped across the screen to answer it, bringing it to her ear in a panic.

"Hello...?" she said, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

A pause, in which the caller must have been talking.

"Hmm… yes… I see…" Kat responded. Alfred couldn't understand what was happening, only being able to hear one side of the conversation, but he could tell enough from Kat's sad expression that it wasn't good.

"Okay… yes, I understand… I hope you do well with that company…Goodbye." She finally ended the call with a beep.

Alfred felt like he should say something, anything.

So, he probably said one of the stupidest things that he had ever said in his whole life.

"What happened?"

Suddenly, it was like the dam had been broken and before Alfred could even try to understand what had happened, Kat had tears streaming down her face, falling to the ground below in small droplets.

The first thing Alfred thought of, in his panic, was that something he had said had caused Kat to cry. He stood, quickly apologizing,

"Sorry! Uh, I didn't mean to ask something bad!"

Kat didn't seem to hear him though, continuing to cry and sniffle. Alfred dimly noticed that people were beginning to stare. He needed to do something, and soon, otherwise the situation would just go from bad to worse.

He felt a sense of déjà vu. He knew what he needed to do and acted without hesitance. He moved forward and hugged Kat, trying his hardest to ignore the soft pillows that were her breasts as he shushed her.

"It's alright, it's not your fault..."

 _Arthur…_ His mind added, for some unknown reason.

At first, the tears just kept coming, but soon, the sniffling began to quieten. Alfred felt himself be lightly pushed away and gladly separated from Kat, giving her a look of concern.

"Are you okay now?" he asked, praying that she wouldn't start crying again.

Kat eventually looked up to Alfred and smiled sadly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble…"

"What happened?"

"The client just called and… well…" Kat paused, and looked down briefly, "he said that another company has approached him and that he took their offer…"

"Oh, Kat, I'm so sor-"

"It's not your fault, Mr. J- Alfred…" Kat interrupted. "You drove me all this way and even comforted me when I lost myself, in front of all these people…"

Alfred finally noticed their staring, some giving 'aww' noises and others giving confused stares. Alfred blushed a deep red, Matthew would have had a fit. Kat continued on, however,

"Thank you…"

Alfred focused back on Kat, the blush still there as he gave a nervous smile.

"It was no problem, I just seem to be comforting a lot of crying people lately," that must have been funny somehow, because Kat giggled. "Why are you laughing?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's just because you are such a kind man Alfred."

Alfred felt the blush come back full force.

"Well…" he said, trying to move the conversation away from embarrassing compliments, "it doesn't seem the best thing for us to just be standing here, having come all this way."

"What are you suggesting, Mr. Jones?" Kat asked, going back to the formality again.

What was Alfred suggesting? He should have started going home by now, not be standing in a park that seemed to have a population solely of couples, talking to his work colleague who wasn't his date. The words, however, seemed to flow out of his mouth out of his own accord.

"Well, my brother said there was a Chinese restaurant around here somewhere. Do you want to go there?"

Alfred jumped to defend himself, moving his hands to the front of his body, his blush now going as far as his ears.

"I-I mean, if you want t-"

"I would love to Alfred." Kat replied. Alfred felt his panic subside as he saw Kat's faint blush.

"Are you sure? I mean, if you want to leave that's fine to-"

"No, no, it's quite alright. Besides, I haven't had much to eat today anyway."

"Ah, okay then, let's go then." He said slowly, turning around and taking the business card out of his pocket.

He supposed, as they walked out of the park, that this was the least he could do, considering how much of a blow it must have been to lose such a prominent business deal. Even if Alfred still had no idea what it had been.

* * *

As Alfred and Kat walked away from the centre of the park, a large man in some sort of fur coat walked into the centre and watched them go. He spoke to himself in a soft, yet eerie voice.

"Well, Mr. Jones, you are certainly proving yourself to be an upstanding man, so far."

He softly chuckled, flicking his phone shut as he walked away.

"Let us hope this good behaviour continues…"

* * *

It took a while to find the restaurant, considering Alfred had never been to the town before, except maybe when they had first been driven here after their flight. But, eventually, he had managed to find it, both with the help of street signs and directions from the locals.

It was what most people would call a typical Chinese restaurant. It was small, in relation to some of the other restaurants along the same street, and gaudily lit, warm auburn lights visible through the large windows at the front of the restaurant. It didn't seem to be too busy, despite the lofty reputation that was written on its card.

"Are you coming in, Alfred?"

Alfred jumped slightly and followed after, embarrassed at having been caught staring into space. He seemed to be doing that a lot more lately, ever since the first day he had seen Arthur again. Strange.

Inside the restaurant, was even more ostentatious than the outside. The furniture was simple; old wooden chairs and wooden tables. The walls were painted a cream white, though they looked orange due to the lighting, which was much stronger inside than out. The air smelled like noodles and chow mein.

Alfred was stopped in his observation by a man rushing over to them.

"Oh, hello there, lady and gentleman, are you here for a table, aru~"

The man's accent was definitely Asian, most likely having learned English as a secondary language. He had rather feminine features and was fairly short. He had a faint aura around him that told Alfred he was far from inexperienced with life. He wore some sort of red overall, the arms of which were way too wide for his arms, though Alfred supposed that was the way it was meant to be.

"Uh yes," Alfred began, "we don't a reservation, is that okay?"

"Okay? Of course, of course!" the little man exclaimed, a smile spread across his lips, "Just pick a seat and I will get someone to take your orders in just a moment, aru~"

Alfred expected to be lead to a seat by, but there was no need. From outside, the restaurant looked like it was having a slow night. However, as Alfred and Kat rounded a corner into the main seating area, they saw it was far from that. The place was entirely empty!

 _So much for 'best restaurant in rural England'…_ Alfred thought with a sense of irony. However, far from being disappointed, Kat seemed to be happy about the lack of people.

They found their seats quickly enough, although they weren't starved for choice. Alfred pulled out Kat's seat for her, letting her sit down before pushing the chair in for her. He'd always been taught to respect a woman's needs – even though his father had probably meant something entirely different when he had taught him and his brother that. Soon after sitting down himself, a

man who was not that much different from the first came to their table. His expression was slightly more serious, his clothes a darker shade of red and they seemed to fit him better. A nametag on his clothes read: 'Li Xiao Chun'.

He gave them menus and after trying in vain to understand what the various dishes contained, Alfred eventually chose something called a 'Century Egg', seeing as it was one of the few things he vaguely recognized, though he didn't really know what the 'century' part meant. Kat ordered 'Peking Duck', saying she had once had it when she and her family had been travelling for work.

While the food was being cooked, Alfred and Kat started talking to fill up the time,

"So, why are you working in England?" Alfred asked.

"Well, my brother wanted a change of scenery," Kat began, "he would always say to us that he'd always wanted to see green fields with dandelions growing everywhere. We don't have any of those in Russia, so when the British Office opened, he quickly made preparations for us to move here."

"Oh… and you didn't mind that? Not being consulted, I mean."

"Oh no, I didn't mind. I will always love Russia, but I've always wanted to live in someplace different too and be able to meet new people. Besides, coming here means I have gotten to meet you, Mr. Jo- Alfred, so I'm happy it did happen."

Alfred smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Alfred never really had any true friends. Sure, he had the occasional colleague who was cordial to him, but he never had somebody to talk to or was glad that they had met him. That had always been his brother's deal, not his.

Eventually, the topic turned to recent events.

"How is your injury healing now?" Kat asked, a genuine look of guilt on her face.

"It's healing fine," Alfred said, putting a hand on his chest, near the bruised rib. "it should be back to normal by the end of next week or so." He had been trying to put Kat's fears to rest by saying that, but it seemed that it had only made them more prominent.

"I'm so sorry my brother did that to you. He is so awfully protective of me and Natyasha."

"Protective?" Alfred questioned, confused. It had been an unprovoked attack, hadn't it? "What do you mean prot-"

The banging of a door had the waiter from earlier walking in, carrying two plates of food towards them, cut Alfred off and effectively ended the short-lived conversation.

Needless to say, after that meal, Alfred promised himself he would never eat a 'century egg' ever again. Luckily, Kat hadn't laughed too much, though she had snickered when Alfred almost turned green from the sulphuric taste of the egg, and had offered him some of her meal, which he accepted graciously.

After Kat's plate had been cleaned of food, the century egg left noticeably untouched, the waiter walked out again, tastefully refraining from commenting on why most of Alfred's plates was still full as he gathered both plates.

"Would you like to order any desserts?" he asked, but Alfred was quick to politely deny the offer, deciding one plate of poisonous food was enough for one day. Instead, he asked for the bill and watched as the other man walked off again, mumbling something faintly about good food going to waste. When they had paid – they meaning Alfred because he had insisted that he pay, since it was his treat – the waiter and the man from earlier waved them out.

"Thank you for the lovely food!" Kat called back as the two walked off in the direction of the park again.

* * *

As Alfred and Kat disappeared into the distance, Li Xiao Chun turned to the other Chinese man.

"I've been meaning to ask you something Yao."

"What is it, LI? Aru~" the smaller man responded.

"Please stop that… Why are those two so important?"

Yao froze, then looked directly at Li.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You've been chasing away all our business today and yet you let those two in? Why?"

"It's none of your business, Li," Yao said sternly, walking back inside. An image of a letter sprung up in his mind.

The message had been short:

'Keep everyone away except a man named Alfred Jones and a woman named Yekaterina 'Katyusha' Braginski. Name your price.'

Inside had been a blank cheque signed in the name of someone he had hoped never to hear from again.

 _Poor man…_ Yao thought as he started closing up shop _if that man didn't scare me so… I would have warned him… never get close to a Braginski…_

* * *

Meanwhile, Alfred and Kat walked back to Alfred's car. They were talking amiably as they walked, the wall of professionalism having been worn away by a combination of tiredness and new-found friendship, at least from Alfred's perspective.

"So, you did semi-professional go-karting for a while?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, that is correct."

"That must have been exciting… what made you stop?"

"Well, when my brother wanted us to move here we didn't have enough money to take the kart, so we sold it. And, now I just don't have the time." Kat's face looked a little sad, but happy as well.

"You should start up again sometime, by the sound of it you were quite good."

"Thank you…"

Alfred smiled. It felt nice to talk to someone who treated him like a normal person. Not a punching bag like Matthew did or a person of higher authority like his colleagues did. He felt like he could relax, for once.

As they reached his car, he felt a small amount of dread. Matthew was going to die laughing when he got home. He could imagine it now.

' _Hey, if you're gonna screw, close and lock the door first. Also, condoms are in the second drawer down~!'_

He sighed. Sometimes he wondered where the innocent brother he had met twenty years ago had gone.

"Are you okay, Alfred?"

"Hmm…? Oh, yeah. Fine." Alfred felt himself blush deeply, happy of the darkness to cover it. Why was he thinking of such things right now? It wasn't a date and there was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he was late coming home. Nothing strange at all.

"So, do you want to have coffee at my house or something?"

Alfred had two reasons for saying this:

1\. He wanted to divert attention away from what had been a very obvious cover-up.

And

2\. He didn't really want to stop talking with Kat just yet. (Like I said, it'd been a long time since Alfred had had anyone talk to him normally except maybe Arthur, who didn't count because he was a kitsune).

Alfred swore he could see Kat blushing as well, though he wasn't sure in the darkness. Before he could confirm what it was, Kat spoke, her voice quieter than before.

"I would love to Alfred."

Alfred felt relieved, even if he didn't really know why Kat was now sounding so shy.

 _Maybe she's just tired,_ he thought _yes, that's it._

"Well then, let's go."

With that, the two entered the car and Alfred started to drive back towards his house. In truth, it had been a rather nice evening, even if it had been strange at some points. At least, he'd been able to make a new friend out of Kat.

Everything seemed great. But, Alfred couldn't fight the feeling that accepting to take Kat into town had been a big mistake. He ignored the feeling however, putting it down as being a figment of his tired mind.

* * *

Unknowingly, he was being watched and followed by a figure in the trees, who gave a menacing smile. It was time to put his plan into action.


	13. Again

Arthur knew he shouldn't worry. He shouldn't be worrying one little bit.

The night in the forest was a mystical time, when the forest came alive and you could almost forget that the war had even occurred. The sounds of birds, bugs and beasts filled the night air, both of natural and unnatural origins. Normally, Arthur would have been just as busy now as he ever was in the day. Being the sole ruler meant you had little time for breaks. Young had to be cared for, races had to be monitored for conflicts and hunts had to be organized and carried out.

But, right now, Arthur's mind was filled with only two things.

_Grr-umble._

Food.

"Where is he?"

And worry.

Arthur had been ecstatic when he'd found the dish Alfred had left for him the day before. To him, it meant Alfred had forgiven him for what he had done. Though, that wasn't the only reason Arthur had hope. The night when Alfred saw Arthur in such a weak state, he didn't run away when Arthur had kissed him. He even called him cute, though from anyone else, that comment would have received a blast of fox-fire straight down the throat. Maybe, just maybe, Alfred liked him back.

It was this very hope that caused Arthur so much despair. Ever since that morning, Alfred had not left any other food outside. He hadn't even collected the empty plate on which the breakfast had once been laid.

So led to the current situation. Arthur sat on a tree branch in the clearing which he had made his home, unmoving as he tried not to panic. He knew if he panicked, he would do something foolish again. But, at the same time, he couldn't stop the thought in his head that Alfred was in trouble.

"I mean, he's not that stupid, right?"

_But he is oblivious…_

"Yes bu- no, no. If someone threatens him I'm sure he could protect himself. He has always been strong."

_But what if there are more than one, or they have weapons?_

Arthur's whole body tensed. Ever since he had been a child, he had learned to hate all human weapons. The mere thought of them being used against the man he loved made him feel a mix of paralyzing fear and uncontrollable anger.

Arthur was distracted from his thoughts as the sound of erratically swishing branches came his way. He quickly jumped up just in time to see a shadowy figure running along the uppermost branches of the trees. The figure didn't stop as he approached the clearing and didn't even look at Arthur as he ran by.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Arthur shouted after the figure, who didn't respond. Arthur growled. He already wasn't in a good mood and that hooligan was making it worse.

"Get back here!" he commanded to empty air as he started to run after the shadow. In his haste, Arthur couldn't recognize that they were heading directly towards Alfred's house.

* * *

As Alfred turned onto the road that lead to his home, he shivered.

"Are you alright, Alfred?" Kat asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine, just… cold."

As Alfred said the word he knew it wasn't true. He wasn't cold. But how else could he explain it? Despite everything, Alfred was not a superstitious man, though the world sought to prove him otherwise. So, he decided to ignore the gnawing feeling in his gut, putting it down as an unfortunate side-effect of the dreaded millennium egg and drove on.

When they reached the cottage, Kat giggled.

"What is it?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing. It's just… I never would have imagined you to be a lover of the rural aesthetic, Alfred."

"Is that a compliment, or an insult?"

Kat giggled again,

"A compliment."

Alfred smirked before looking up to the cottage. He froze.

Nothing was wrong with the cottage, in fact, everything seemed peaceful. Too peaceful. All the room lights had been turned off, which could mean only one thing. Matthew had gone to bed. And why was this bad? Well, ever since Matthew had been a child, he had developed a bad habit of sleeping downstairs if not directed to go to his own room. Alfred guessed that this was because of his reverential love of television. Normally, this wouldn't have been such a disaster (unless you counted Matthew's complaining as a disaster), except for one detail. They had a guest.

Alfred, not wanting to take the chance that his brother had decided to go au natural tonight, resolved to walk in first and send his brother to bed before letting Kat inside. He parked and they exited the car.

"Do you mind waiting here for a minute?" Alfred said as they began to walk towards the cottage.

"Okay. Why?"

"The place is, um, a bit messy, so I have to sort it out." Alfred blushed, realizing that what he said was utterly childish. Kat smiled, not seeming to mind.

"It's okay, I'll let you sort out your things."

Alfred smiled and nodded his head, dashing off to the cottage, leaving Kat outside. Afterwards, he would say that was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made in his life.

* * *

 _This prat is fast…_ Arthur thought as he ran through the forest, hopping from branch to branch with a mastery that had come from many years of training. He'd been chasing the shadow for all of five minutes and almost lost him two times already. He hadn't been able to close the distance much at all since the chase had first began, which made him wonder who exactly the figure was. There were few creatures in the forest able to run faster than Arthur.

"Hey, stop right there!" Arthur yelled at the shadow, who didn't respond, as had been the pattern for the past five minutes.

The chase continued, Arthur shouting and the shadow staying silent. Suddenly, Arthur saw that there was a break in the forest up ahead. Arthur's eyes widened as he noticed where they were. He looked up to the shadow and saw he was heading directly towards the clearing and the cottage.

They approached, the figure made a final jump and disappeared. Arthur jumped in after him, landing on the soft grass. He looked around, but the figure was already gone. In his place, a woman lay on her back, completely still, like she had been shocked into silence. Arthur's ears twitched. Why was there a woman here? Had Alfred brought her here?

He didn't have time to answer his own questions as the woman finally noticed him. There was a moment of tense silence between the two.

Then the woman screamed.

_Oh bullocks._

* * *

When Alfred entered the house, he instantly went for the living-room. He sighed, leaning heavily against the door-frame. He'd been right. The TV screen flickered with moving image. It seemed to be an animated movie with some guy climbing a candy-cane tree while a little girl annoyed him. More importantly, Matthew was there, snoring loudly on the couch. He was wearing clothes, luckily, but Alfred still walked over and gripped his brother's shoulder to shake him.

"Matthew," he said, quiet yet forceful "wake up."

Matthew stayed asleep for a bit more before finally opening his eyes and looking at Alfred.

"Hey… hoser's back…" he mumbled. Alfred sighed, Matthew even insulted him when he was half-asleep.

"Yes, I'm back, now get up to your room. We have a guest."

Matthew's ears perked up as he heard that.

"Guest?" he snickered "Alfie, you sly virgin dog you."

"Shut up…" Alfred said in exasperation, "just get to bed."

"What? And miss the show, not likel-"

_AHH!_

Both men twitched as they heard a scream. A woman's scream.

"Kat!" Alfred exclaimed, running out of the room.

"Wait, what!? Alfred, wait up!" Matthew shouted after him, tumbling off the couch as he tried to stop him.

Alfred's thoughts raced. What was happening? Why had Kat screamed? Was there an intruder?

He practically tore the front door off and ran outside. The scene before him seemed extremely vivid, despite there being only the light of the moon. Kat was on the ground, looking up her assailant with a horrified expression. And above her, standing with his hands poised to grab her, was Arthur. Alfred felt himself snap.

"Get away from her!" He shouted.

Arthur looked at him with both confusion and shock, but had little time to react as Alfred rushed him, pushing him away from Kat and stood between the two of them.

"Alfred! I-"

"Leave!" Alfred yelled, cutting Arthur off.

Arthur's ears flattened. He looked like he was about to cry.

"I can exp-"

"Didn't you hear what I said? Get away from here! And if I ever see you again I will make sure you regret it!"

That seemed to be all that was needed. Arthur jerked back, as if shot. Then he ran, escaping into the forest without looking back.

Alfred turned away. He could feel his anger fading already and the need to rush after Arthur rising. He fought to keep himself still however, looking at Kat. He was about to ask if she was okay when suddenly the air of tension was broken by Matthew stumbling outside, a coat around him (most likely to disguise his embarrassing pyjamas).

"What the hell happened!?" he shouted "I heard yelling."

"Nothing." Alfred said, looking at Matthew and then at Kat "Nothing at all."


	14. Two Weeks Later

Silence reigned for the next few minutes, the only sound came from Matthew, fiercely shouting for Alfred to tell him what had happened. Alfred helped Kat up from the ground and, with Matthew's help, took her inside.

"Are you okay?" Alfred said, sitting on the couch next to her.

The TV was turned off now and the lights turned on. Alfred had sent Matthew away to make coffee, which he had protested against loudly until Alfred reminded him that he was doing it for Kat. He ran off very quickly after that.

"Yes…" she whispered, her voice sounding as if she were some place else.

Alfred felt terrible and conflicted. He had left Kat outside all alone and let her be attacked. He was so angry, so very angry, at Arthur. But, at the same time, he couldn't help but think that he was missing something, something important. He was so confused. Alfred hadn't noticed his head was in his hands until he heard Kat speak again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that."

"I said, are you okay? You seem sad."

Alfred twitched. Had he really looked like that?

"Yes, I'm completely fine!" he exclaimed. Worry now set in. Kat had seen Arthur and no doubt she would have questions. "Um…well, in regards to what happened earlier, I want to expla-"

He was shushed by Kat's voice.

"You don't have to."

"Huh?"

"It was a blur for me anyway… and I would prefer not to relive it."

"Oh." Did Kat not know what happened? Alfred decided to let it be, seeing as he didn't want to go back to Arthur again and ask him to make Kat forget as well. The short conversation ended as Matthew walked in with Kat's coffee, a set of designer clothes on.

* * *

Alfred drove Kat home later, after he was sure that she had suffered no prominent physical or mental damage. There were no obvious issues, though Alfred couldn't say anything about deep mental scarring.

As Kat exited the car, she even gave Alfred a shaky smile,

"I really did have a nice evening… thank you for looking after me so well."

Alfred returned home and flopped onto his bed, completely exhausted. So many thoughts and feelings had been running circles in his head that he was overloaded. None of those emotions were good. Blissfully, he passed out quickly and prevented any more conscious thoughts from popping into his head. Sadly, this didn't stop him dreaming.

* * *

**Two weeks later…**

_Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep._ The alarm-clock screamed shrilly.

Alfred's hand rose and unceremoniously bashed the snooze button, causing the alarm to cease. There was a loud groan before the rest of Alfred's body moved into a sitting position on his bed. He rubbed the bags under his eyes, mumbling to himself.

"Stupid dream…"

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Alfred glared at the door, almost growling as it opened to reveal his brother, who looked too cheery for Alfred's current mood.

"Wake up, Alfie~" he sang, practically dancing into the room.

"What do you want, Matthew?" Alfred asked.

"Aw, is the little puppy angry? Oh well, be happy, because I - your dear brother - has made you a breakfast of the most excellent pancakes!" Matthew proclaimed, making the meal seem like a gift from the gods. He then danced out again, telling Alfred to come downstairs.

Alfred sighed and rubbed his temple. His mood had been progressively worsening over the past two weeks, mostly because he hadn't had any sleep since that night. Most nights, he lay awake, unable to sleep and when, by some miracle, he did manage to close his eyes, he was plagued by dreams.

Alfred got up slowly, clothing himself and walking slowly downstairs. A plate of fluffy pancakes waited for him on the table in the kitchen. Matthew was chomping through his own plate, humming happily to himself. If he had noticed Alfred's gruffness, he didn't react to it.

Alfred took his plate and started eating. Matthew's pancakes were good, in fact, they were one of the only things he could cook to any degree of skill. But even good things become mediocre with time. For the past two weeks, Alfred had refrained from cooking at all, leaving Matthew to make pancakes every morning and pancakes every night. Whenever Matthew asked him why he didn't want to cook, or about anything vaguely connected to that night, Alfred would always avoid answering, lying through his teeth or simply not responding.

After breakfast and two strong coffees, Alfred felt minutely better, though tiredness still fogged his mind and dulled his actions. On the way to work, he almost drove into a ditch on two separate occasions, causing his brother to yell at him about responsible driving. Alfred didn't retort with the fact that Matthew couldn't even drive, deciding he was too tired to argue.

Work had been quiet for a while. Alfred went about his daily business of signing forms and evaluating deals. He still sat with Kat and Ivan's group every lunch-time, making small-talk to distract himself from his raging thoughts. Ivan was much more friendly lately, disturbingly so in fact. Alfred kept finding Ivan staring at him, as if he were assessing him, multiple times. He also persisted in asking deeply personal questions like how much money he made per year and what his ambitions were within the company. Alfred answered them, confused why Ivan would need such information but not questioning it too deeply.

* * *

As the two walked into the building and towards their shared office, Matthew talking idly about a cute girl he'd started flirting with in another department (because, in his words, 'otherwise I would become as much of a virgin as you'), Kat came around the corner, and almost succeeded in crashing into Alfred. She jumped back in shock, looking up and smiling when she realized it was Alfred. She didn't seem to have noticed Alfred's bad mood either.

"Good Morning, Alfred." She sounded as peppy as normal, though Alfred noticed her hands were wrung together.

"Good morning." Alfred replied, smiling half-heartedly.

There was a moment of tense silence and then,

"Welp!" Matthew said, drawing his arms behind his neck, "I've got some paperwork that needs doing, soooo…"

Alfred turned his head towards Matthew to tell him that he was coming too. All that was left, however, was empty air. If this had been a cartoon, it would have been a flashing outline. Alfred darted his head around in confusion and saw Matthew running around the corner where Kat had first appeared.

"Your brother is certainly active." Kat commented. Alfred looked back at her.

"Yes, that's the best way to put it," he sighed. "Anyway, I suppose I should go after him."

Alfred began to walk away when he felt a hand on his sleeve. He turned back to see Kat was holding him back, head looking down at the ground.

"My brother would like to meet you," she stated.

 _What?_ Alfred thought.

"Oh," He said.

"In his office at lunch-time, he said… it's important."

Without another word, Kat let go of his sleeve and walked off. Alfred felt as if he had been struck dumb. Why did Ivan want to see him? Had he done something wrong? Had Kat told him what happened?

_No, she couldn't have… she didn't know what happened anyway and even if she did, he would have done something long before now. But then, why?_

* * *

The hours until lunch seemed like years as Alfred poured over his work, trying to distract himself. By the time lunch arrived, Alfred felt so nervous that even the slightest unexpected action would make him jump out of his skin. He ran out of his office, not even glancing in Matthew's direction, as he raced towards the HR department.

It didn't take long for Alfred to find Ivan's office door. The Russian's name was inscribed on a heavy bronze plate and through the translucent glass that made up part of the door, Alfred could see a large figure sitting at a desk. Alfred took a deep breath, realizing that if he was going onto Ivan's home turf, he had to be careful.

He knocked on the door once. He waited for a few moments and just as he was about to knock again he heard Ivan's muffled voice.

"Come in."

Alfred took hold of the door knob and turned it, waiting for a click before he walked in. Ivan was sitting at a mahogany desk, files and individual pieces of paper organized into very neat piles on his desk. Ivan himself was sitting down, large hands clasped together as he stared at Alfred, like a bear eagerly awaiting its next morsel.

"It is nice to see you, Mr Jones," he started, "please, sit." Ivan gestured to a chair opposite his side of the desk. Alfred cautiously approached, ribs pulsing as if to remind him of how dangerous this man was. Alfred sat and only then did Ivan continue.

"You must be curious as to why I have asked you to be here, da?" Alfred didn't respond. "Family is important, is it not?"

Alfred twitched, confused as to the sudden change of topic.

"Your answer?" Ivan asked, head tilted sideways.

"Um, yes. Yes, they are." Alfred said.

"Good, a straight answer. It is so rare that I find a man who will not, as you say, dance around the bush. Those men are deceptive, in my personal opinion. Are they not?"

"It depends." The words poured out of Alfred's mouth, the powers of confusion and exhaustion firmly holding the floodgates open. "Deception can also be used to protect."

Ivan paused, then laughed.

"Ah, that is true. Very true. I cannot remember the number of times I have had to deceive to protect my family and my friends. You are an understanding man, I see."

 _What is the point in this?_ Alfred thought, hands wringing together.

"Understanding, honest and protective. And from our little spar, capable and brave. You bring in good income and are kind. And my sister likes you very much."

Alfred twitched again and opened his mouth to ask Ivan what was going on. Ivan, however, continued, cutting him off before he began.

"I like you too, and that is rare. Not many people I see draw my eye. That is why I wish, -"

Ivan suddenly stood up, looming over Alfred. He tried to shuffle back, but found himself stuck between the back of his chair and the tense aura of the imposing Russian. Was he going to hit him? Shout at him? Ivan's hands moved forward and grabbed Alfred by the shoulders. Alfred tensed.

"To congratulate you."

"Con…gratulate?" Alfred stuttered.

"Yes, you will make a fine life partner for my little sister."

"Wha-"

Alfred was cut off by the door opening behind him. He turned to see everyone from Ivan's table rush in. The three nervous men had small smiles on their faces. The scary-looking woman had a creepy attempt at a smile. And, finally, Kat looked more relieved than Alfred had ever seen her.

Ivan all but lifted Alfred out of his seat and placed him on his feet, turning him around and pushing him towards Kat. Alfred stopped short of crashing into her. Alfred saw that Kat was blushing hard and that was when it all unfurled in his mind.

Kat was in love with him and now Ivan had just given them his blessing. Alfred felt nauseous at the revelation and a single phrase intercepted all his thoughts.

_I'm a complete moron._


	15. Times Long Past

_Kat is in love with me? Why didn't I realize it earlier? No, the real question is how I didn't realize it before!?_

Everything made sense. The unprovoked fight, the personal questions, Ivan asking Alfred to help Kat. Everything had been one huge test to ascertain his suitability for her.

Alfred had been shocked silent by all of the events unravelling in his mind, suddenly understanding what he had done. He truly was completely oblivious. Ivan had broken him away from his thoughts by speaking, announcing he had a gift for Kat and Alfred to share to mark the occasion. He told them that he reserved them the best table at the fanciest restaurant in the town where Alfred had taken Kat before. The name of the restaurant was 'Lot Koni' and was owned by an old Polish friend of his. Finally, Ivan stated that the reservation was for the following night. With that, Alfred had been practically pushed out of the room and left to his own devices for the rest of the day.

* * *

When Alfred returned home that night, he felt that he could pass out at any moment. Thoughts were swirling in his head, more numerous and faster than before.

"What the hell are you staring into space for?"

Alfred jerked violently back into reality as his brother spoke.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed "Nothing at all…"

He hadn't told Matthew about the 'gift' yet, nor what had happened at lunch-time. He didn't want to see the smug look of victory. Sadly, Alfred knew he would have to tell Matthew eventually (mostly because he would have to get some poor person to drive him home again), but that didn't mean he had to tell him right away. Besides, in that time he could figure out which details he would 'accidentally' omit from his news.

Matthew's eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"Whatever, I'll worm it out of you eventually, dear brother of mine." He walked into the living room, unceremoniously throwing himself onto the couch. "Hey!" he called in afterthought "What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"Nothing, thank you…" Alfred responded. He was too tired and confused to even think of eating. He just needed some nice _dreamless_ sleep and some time to sort out his thoughts.

"Alright…" If Alfred didn't know better, he could have sworn his brother sounded worried. He began to walk away, shuffling along the floor like a walking corpse as he was climbed the stairs and walked into his room. He flopped onto the bed and groaned into the mattress, before rolling over so he was facing the ceiling.

* * *

_Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into, Alfred…_

"Shut up…" he said to himself. If he wasn't so tired, he would have thought himself insane for talking to his own thoughts.

_How 'bout no? Okay, okay. So first things first, what's the damage?_

"My co-worker who I only like as a friend is in love with me, her crazy brother wants me to be his brother-in-law, my brother treats me like a child, my non-imaginary friend attacked two people, I'm an oblivious idiot and my whole life is in shambles!"

It took Alfred a few moments to realize that he had been shouting towards the end of his monologue. Luckily, it wasn't loud enough for Matthew to hear, but it was enough to shock his mind into an epiphany.

_What do you want?_

"What?" he questioned himself, despite the fact he knew the answer.

_What do you want? You keep moving along with what other people do and never think of yourself. That's no way to move through life…_

Alfred moved slightly and looked out of the window set into the far wall of his room, sighing.

"What… do I want?"

He felt lead weights drop on his eye-lids, closing them tightly. He soon started to drift off, not caring that he hadn't changed. Meanwhile, that same thought fluttered around his head.

_What do I want?_

* * *

As Alfred was floating in the black expanse of his mind he had a faint hope that maybe tonight he would sleep dreamlessly. However, his hopes were soon dashed as the dream began. The same dream he had been suffering from for the past two weeks.

It started out slow, like any dream does. Alfred's vision started out with nothingness, his whole field of view filled with never-ending black. Then, deep within the gloom, a pinprick of light shone through, like someone had poked a small pin through a black piece of paper with a light behind it. The single light shone on its own for a while. Then another one appeared and another, until the whole black expanse was covered with tiny shiny holes. Stars. They were stars, shining in the night sky.

As soon as Alfred realized this fact, the pace picked up. He felt wind pick up around him. It was a cold and moist winter breeze, carrying the promise of frost. He could also feel wet grass below him and as he looked down from the sky he could tell instantly where he was. It was the clearing, but as it had been twenty years ago. The trees were shorter and the rainwater pool was shallower, but apart from that, little was different. He was distracted in his observation by a voice. It was a voice he remembered all too well.

* * *

"So, you're leaving tomorrow, aren't you, Alfie?"

Arthur. No, not Arthur, here he was Artie, the cute fox-boy from the Flying Bunny Forest.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry Artie…"

It was him talking, but at the same time, not him. It was his seven year-old self speaking.

"You don't have to say sorry, it's not your fault." Artie mumbled, fox-tail waving slightly from side to side. Alfred looked at the boy and knew instantly he was close to tears. His younger self must have known that too.

"Aw, don't cry Artie, you look too sad when you cry."

"I'm…not…crying…" the other boy responded defiantly, despite the fact he was sniffling between each word. His tail was limp now and his ears pulled close to his head.

"Now, come on. I know when you're lying. Your tail's down."

Artie gasped and tried to liven himself up so that it wasn't so obvious how sad he felt. Before he could do so though, Alfred hugged him, snickering to himself.

"You're so cute!" Alfred could feel the heat of Artie's blush on his cheeks as he hugged him back, sniffling again before crying.

Time must have passed, because now Artie had stopped crying and was rubbing his eyes furiously.

"Hey, you know what?" Alfred said.

"What?"

"We should get married."

"What!?" Artie shouted, blushing up to his ears, his tail puffed out in shock "what do you mean married!?"

"Exactly what I said." Alfred responded coolly, continuing on like it wasn't the cheesiest thing to say ever. "I was told by Papa that if you like someone, you marry them." Alfred moved forward and took one of Artie's hands in both of his. "I don't want you to think that I'm never coming back, so I'm going to promise you something."

Alfred placed Artie's hand over his heart.

"I, Alfred Fred Jones, do solemnly swear that when I return from America, I will marry you, Arthur Kirkland."

He looked at Artie, who was blushing profusely. Alfred would have thought he'd weirded out his friend, if it hadn't been for the way his tail was wagging. They were both silent for a long while. A companionable silence, a silence that didn't need to be filled by words or actions to have meaning. Alfred was the one to break that silence.

"Psst, you're meant to say 'I do'."

"I-idiot!" Artie exclaimed. "That was a really stupid idea."

"Yeah, right, you liked it though. Your tail's wagging."

Artie twitched again to try and stop his betraying appendage. They both laughed after that, a sweet, innocent laughter.

* * *

The dream was warm, even pleasant, and if Alfred hadn't been haunted by it every single night for the past two weeks, he would have enjoyed it. Sadly though, the dream kept coming back every night, slowly draining him of all his energy and leaving him as a barely-living shell. He didn't know why it had begun, nor did he know how to stop it, but as he felt himself begin to wake up he knew that this couldn't continue.

Alfred's eyes opened as he slowly surfaced into the conscious world, more tired than before. He sighed. What if this never stopped?

The thought from the previous night flashed into his head, as if in answer.

_What do you want?_

That was when something strange happened. Alfred swore at that moment an image of a smiling Brit had appeared before him. He shook his head and when his vision refocused, it was gone again.

_What was th-_

Alfred's thoughts were jarred to a grinding halt as the door slammed open to reveal Matthew.

"Wake up sleepy puppy! Pancakes are ready~"

He rushed out again (undoubtedly to begin gobbling his pancakes), leaving Alfred alone. Alfred groaned and moved into a sitting position, groaning as he realized he had slept in his work clothes. He changed quickly into another set, looking out the window. He didn't know why, but it felt like today he was going to have to make a very serious decision.

"Well, today is a new day, I suppose," he said with an undertone of sarcasm, walking out of his room and downstairs.

_A brand new day…_


	16. What I Want

When he'd told his brother about what happened, Matthew had collapsed.

"Bwahahahhaha!" he laughed, practically rolling on the floor at the hilarity of the situation.

"Could you be serious for once?" Alfred asked, though he knew the answer before it even left Matthew's mouth.

"Nope. How could you not laugh at this? That girl has been making googly eyes at you since you met and you only realize it after you get permission from her older brother to become her boyfriend?"

Alfred made a 'tch' noise. He was glad he left out Ivan's words about him being Kat's 'life-partner'. If he told Matthew that, he would never hear the end of it. Matthew continued on, now sitting up and looking up at him. "The date didn't give it away?"

"It wasn't a date," Alfred rubbed his temple. "Anyway, that is why I need you to get someone else to drive you home tonight."

"Oh, sure-sure, wouldn't want to interrupt the new couple, do we?"

Alfred also left out the fact he wasn't in love with Kat. Why? Because it wasn't his brother's business and if he told him, he would never stop being nosy about it. Alfred wasn't in the mood for his brother's meddling; he had to deal with this himself.

* * *

The rest of the day was surprisingly normal. Work came in, work came out.

When Alfred sat at Ivan and Kat's table at lunch-time, the topic of the restaurant booking wasn't even mentioned. At one point, Alfred almost brought it up himself, but stopped himself when he saw Kat's face. Ever since the announcement, she hadn't faced him once, nor said anything. Despite everything, Alfred didn't dislike Kat. He liked her, but as a friend. And that was why he couldn't say anything then and embarrass her in front of every single employee in the company. He wasn't that type of man. He had to deal with Kat when they were alone and he could explain himself. So he stayed silent and the day passed peacefully.

Finally, Alfred found himself sitting in the reception. He was nervous, and this time, unlike the first, he knew exactly why. He was going to a restaurant dinner with Kat to mark Ivan giving them his blessing. As he sat and waited, he thought.

_Ivan._

That was one of the first thoughts that came to was like a puzzle piece, all important in completing the big picture, but inexplicably missing.

If you asked him, Alfred wouldn't say he was afraid of Ivan, despite everything he had done to prove himself as a threat. However, he was extraordinarily cautious of the man. How could he intimidate the other employees and bend them to his will? How could he start a fight with a superior and hide all the evidence to make it like it had never happened? And how could he always smile? His unfaltering smile was something that made him unreadable and therefore unpredictable. The announcement he made yesterday was testament to that.

Why didn't Alfred just fire him and be done with it? Because he had no evidence and he had the niggling feeling that Ivan was much more powerful than he first appeared to be.

His thoughts were brought away from the man as he saw Kat walk into the reception. Alfred was frankly surprised by what he saw. Kat was wearing a silver gown, which made her 'assets' look bigger than they already were (which was like making Jupiter look bigger than it already was). She also wore make-up, though it wasn't enough to make her look like a clown, and a silver necklace. She looked absolutely beautiful, and if Alfred had been in love with her, he would have told her that. He wasn't however, so he stood and gave his best attempt at a smile. (Though his tiredness showed through and it came out as a half-smile.)

"I feel like I'm under-dressed." he said, trying to keep the mood light-hearted.

"No, it's fine." Kat responded. It was the first time she had spoken to him today. "You look nice as you are." Alfred forced himself not to blush.

"Well then, shouldn't we be off then?"

"Yes, we should."

* * *

They walked out together and while they were walking, Alfred couldn't help glancing in her direction. Shouldn't she be more excited? She was going to a restaurant with the man she loved. Her face, however, was set to a straight-line. She was thinking about something that was troubling her.

They reached the car and both got inside in a stony silence. As Alfred drove to town, he decided it was too awkward and tried to fill the silence.

"So you changed, your clothes I mean."

"Yes," she responded "my brother said it would be a shame if I did not dress-up for tonight."

"He did?"

"Yes, my brother has always been particular about having the right clothes for the right occasion."

"Hmm."

The conversation faded into nothingness and the silence set back in again. Alfred occupied himself with thinking.

Kat was definitely acting strangely, but he couldn't put his finger on the cause.

* * *

In a word, the Lot Koni was eccentric. Alfred was surprised he hadn't seen it when he'd first come into town. Unlike the Chinese restaurant, which had been tucked into an alley-way, the Lot Koni was much less understated. The outside wall were painted deep purple and lit by large floodlights like a night club. The huge neon sign didn't help; the words 'Lot Koni' light up in a vast array of showy colours from hot pink to lipstick red.

"Woah…" was all Alfred could think of to say. "This place looks so… so…" he could think of a few words to describe it, but none did it justice. Luckily, Kat filled the gap for him.

"Camp? Feliks would be glad to hear that, it's exactly what he was going for when he set out to make this restaurant."

Alfred almost asked who in the right mind would want to make a restaurant look like a camp night-club, but was disturbed as the front door of the restaurant opened, revealing a strawberry blond male wearing a pink waiters outfit.

"Kat? Is that you? Oh my god, it is!" The man ran towards them and as he came closer Alfred recognized some other things. His eyes sparkled light green, but were less stunning than his outfit: hot pink, instead of black and covered in sequins that glittered whenever they hit the light. His name tag bore then name 'Feliks Łukasiewicz' written in marker pen.

At least Alfred had an answer now.

"Feliks, it is nice to see you again." Kat said, hugging the flamboyant man and smiling. Feliks giggled and hugged her back, separating after a good twenty seconds.

"It's nice to see you too girlfriend! Last time I saw you, my baby had just started up." Alfred assumed that by 'baby' Feliks meant the restaurant.

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't keep much in contact with you, it's just been so busy and-"

"No need to apologize girl, none of us are perfect, right? Except my sense of style, that is just fabulous. Anyway, this looker must be 'the one' I've heard your brother talking about." Alfred jumped slightly as the topic of conversation floated to him.

Feliks stared at him for a few moments, then winked at him. Alfred had the sudden urge to run… very quickly.

"Cutie, ain't he? I'm surprised girl. I didn't think you went for the 'oblivious' type."

"Hey." Alfred started, annoyed (and slightly impressed) by the man's comment.

"Heh heh, don't take it too personally sweetie, I like the cute ones."

Alfred really wanted to run away now.

* * *

Feliks talked a bit more with Kat before finally noticing that talking outside wasn't the best of places and led them inside. Much like the last restaurant, the entire place was empty. Pop blared from speakers inset into the walls and Alfred felt like he was too formally dressed as he walked past seats covered in glitter and walls with large multi-coloured murals of horses and unicorns.

"Have anything you want tonight, girl. Your brother's footing the bill." Feliks said, helping seat Kat and Alfred.

"Thank you Feliks."  
"I'll get you some drinks," he said, smiling wide as he sauntered off, seeming to disappear into the bright colours of the interior.

As much as Alfred was frankly disturbed by Feliks, he felt lost now that he had left, leaving Kat and Alfred in an awkward silence again.

"So, um… how does your brother know a guy like that?" It was a stupid question, but the only one Alfred had.

"They were business partners, a long, long time ago. Ivan helped Feliks get himself started when we moved here."

"Why didn't he just set up where you used to live?"

"He always said he wanted to come to a British-speaking country. Said that they at least had a sense of style."

Alfred half-smiled at that. Yep, that sounded like a reason someone like him would give. The conversation dissolved after that and Alfred had to fight to not ask why Kat was acting so distant. He distracted himself by looking at the menu.

Just as the tenseness seemed to be coming to a head, Feliks reappeared again, holding up a metal tray with an open bottle of rum on it.

"Here we go sweeties, one rum to shaaa-!" Feliks suddenly tripped on something that Alfred couldn't see, the tray falling out of his hands and the liquid landing on Alfred, drenching his suit jacket. Feliks was quick to recover himself as he started fussing over Alfred's jacket, pulling him out of his seat and towards the back of the restaurant.

"I'm am so sorry," he said, "I really am, honey. Kat, I'll bring back your boyfriend in a couple of minutes after I wipe this stuff off."

"Okay…" Kat said, shocked with the suddenness of it all as Alfred was dragged away.

* * *

Alfred was dragged far, far away. He could no longer see Kat and even the omnipresent pop music was beginning to fade. They reached the back wall and just as Alfred was about to speak, he was suddenly thrown against the wall with surprising force. His eyes widened and when his mind had processed what was happening, Feliks was in front of him, giving him a death glare and trapping him in place with his body.

"Do you like leading sweet girls around? Huh?" He said, tone heavy with anger.

"What?" Alfred's brain was jumbled because of the sudden change in Feliks' personality, so he found himself a bit slow on the uptake.

"Do I have to spell it out to you?" Feliks continued, even more agitated. "Kat is trying not to cry right now and all you're doing is asking useless questions! How oblivious can you get!"

Alfred flared.

"Hey! It's not my fault, I don't even want to be here! This is all because of her brother setting up this stupid da-"

Alfred's ranting was stopped by Feliks small hand being placed over his mouth. Alfred would have struggled, but stopped himself when he saw Feliks' expression. His eyes were not looking at him anymore, but past him, like there was someone behind Alfred. He looked both angry and unsurprised.

"Never get involved with a Braginski," he mumbled under his breath. He made a 'tch' noise and then looked at Alfred again, eyes softer now, like Alfred was a victim instead of a villain. "You have to tell her. Now. Otherwise you'll be doing just what he wants."

Alfred shifted his head slightly so he could speak.

"What do you mean, 'what he wants'?"

"Exactly what I said. You must know that Ivan is a dangerous man, very dangerous. I worked with him, so I know better than anyone that he will do almost anything to get what he wants. For him or his family."

Alfred would have asked more questions. He would have asked exactly what he meant, but the conversation was ended prematurely as Kat walked into frame, hands clasped in front of her.

"Feliks, you don't need to do this…"

Feliks looked at Kat for a moment, then sighed and finally backed away from Alfred. He didn't say anything. Kat then turned her attention towards Alfred, who turned tense as he saw her expression. She looked tired and sad.

"Alfred, I need to talk to you outside."

He knew better than to ignore her and followed behind as she walked out of the restaurant, leaving Feliks behind. Feliks leant against the wall after they had disappeared from view, using a few choice words to describe just what he thought of Ivan. He cursed him for convincing him that for a single second that he had changed from the man he had known him to be back then. He cursed him for dragging that innocent man into this. But, most of all, he cursed him for doing this to his sister, no matter the reason behind his actions.

"Get out," He mumbled. "Get out, before it's too late, pretty boy."

* * *

Alfred followed Kat out of the restaurant, into the street and to the park they had come to when they'd last been there. It was quiet, most of the couples hidden in the shadows of trees and bushes, whispering sweet nothings to one another. Kat lead them to an empty bench near the fountain, sitting down and wringing her hands.

Alfred stood in front of her, hairs on the back of his neck rising as the tension came back in full force. He was about to say something, anything to break the stony silence that had settled over them, but was stopped by her voice.

"You have someone else you love don't you, Alfred?"

For someone so sweet, Alfred thought, Kat could be extraordinarily blunt. Alfred didn't respond. The question from the morning came back into his mind.

_What do you want?_

"I don't know," he said.

"Okay then," Kat responded, suddenly getting up and looking Alfred straight into his eyes, a look of firm determination on her face. "Kiss me then."

Alfred's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Kiss me. If you can't kiss me, then you must love someone else."

Alfred should have said something, should have told Kat that there were other less extreme ways of telling such a thing. But, deep in his mind, he knew that this was the only way. The only way to end all of this confusion was a trial by fire.

"Okay."

He moved closer and Kat did the same, closing the distance between them. Alfred moved his lips forward, moving to kiss Kat. It felt wrong, like a brother kissing their sister. His mind was shouting at him to stop but still he continued moving. He needed to know. He needed to know what he wanted, not what anyone else wanted from him.

Suddenly, a single thought came into his mind as his lips were mere inches away from Kat's.

_Arthur._

He jumped away, shocked at his own thought. Kat paused for a moment and then smiled sadly at him.

"It's that fox-man, isn't it?"

Alfred paused.

"You knew?"

"How could I forget?" Kat paused, then sighed. "I feel so guilty about it."

"Guilty?"

"You shouted at him, but…" Kat was struggling to speak, Alfred could tell, but he didn't stop her. What had he missed? "It wasn't him who attacked me."

Alfred's eyes widened.

_What?_

"There was someone else, another fox-man who jumped in front of me and knocked me down. He came down after him. I screamed like a stupid little girl and then you shouted at him and I didn't say anything, because…" Alfred noticed she was crying, though she ducked her head to try and hide it. "Because, I loved you and I wanted you to be mine. You're nice, Alfred, and funny and charming. You're a good listener, even if you don't always understand everything people say. That's why my brother chose you. I didn't want to lose you to someone else, so I lied. But then all of this happened and I felt so, so guilty. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologi-"

"Yes, I do. Because of me, you thought he had done a terrible thing." She stepped forward again and looked Alfred in the eyes, placing her hand on his cheek. "And now, I'm setting things right." She moved forward and Alfred fleetingly thought she was going to kiss him on the lips. Instead, however, she pecked him on the cheek and then withdrew, smiling sadly.

"I… don't know what to say…"

"You don't need to say anything, Alfred. I love you and I want you to be happy, even if that means I am not the one to have you."

Alfred couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He decided to voice his concern.

"You talk like we're never going to see each other again. I can still sit on the table if you wan-"

"No!" Kat exclaimed, loudly enough that other people turned around and looked at them, though they quickly went back to what they had been doing. "No…" she continued, more softly, "my brother would murder you if you ever came into his sight again… it is better that you stop interacting with us as much as you can."

"Kat, i-"Alfred wanted to make it better. If there was one thing he could not stand it was the thought of others being hurt and him being powerless to stop it. He wanted to comfort Kat, figure out a better way to end this. In the end, however, he knew that this was the only option.

"Thank you."

Alfred said those two words, then started walking. He walked past Kat, past the couples and out of the park, gaining speed. By the time he was out of the park he was running at full-pelt, tiredness forgotten. His mind was racing, but this time it had something to hold onto. A single, solitary thought which permeated all.

_I want to apologize to Arthur!_

With that thought driving him, he ran to his car and kicked the engine into gear, racing out of the town as quick as the engine could carry him.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the park, Kat's legs had finally given out from beneath her, leaving her crumpled on the bench. She stared into the water which streamed from the fountain.

"Never get involved with a Braginski…" she mumbled to herself.

It was better this way, she told herself, the way it should be. Alfred would be happy and free and she would move on and find someone else. As she looked at the fountain, the image blurred suddenly and that was when she realized she was crying. She wept, placing her head in her hands. It was the right thing, maybe. But it still hurt.

A shadowy figure lingered around the edge of a tall hedge, looking at the crying woman on the bench. He growled, his vocal cords thick with rage. He had seen the whole exchange. Indeed, he had been following the couple the entire evening. He had been worried that something would go wrong tonight and lo and behold he was correct.

"That rat," he said, treating each syllable with contempt "I will make sure he feels her pain. The pain of losing a beloved one."

Having made the promise, the figure thought. He couldn't be direct. The last incident had been too close for comfort and he didn't want to risk being stopped before he carried out his revenge. He racked his brain, playing and replaying everything he knew about Alfred F. Jones. He was strong, kind, a good work ethic and –

The figure smiled. He had an idea. A cruel, sadistic idea. But, he kept it to himself, locking it away in a little box in his mind to be developed later. He looked back at Kat. Soon, she had stopped crying and soon she would call him to ask him for a lift home, feeding him a story about how it would never have worked between her and Alfred. And he would listen to her, comfort her and lie to her.

Because that's what big brothers did for their little sisters.


	17. The Darkest Night

Arthur sighed as he stared into the dark waters of the pool, curled into foetal position, his tails wrapped around him, vainly trying to provide him comfort and warmth.

It had been a whole two weeks since Alfred told him he never wanted to see him again. In that time, Arthur cried, screamed and said every curse word he knew a thousand times. His emotions were in turmoil. Anger, despair, hatred.

However, at some point, he realized none of it would make any difference. No matter how loud he yelled, it wouldn't change anything. So, he settled into a depressive state, barely moving from his spot by the pool, whether it be by day or by night.

_He's probably out with her right now…_

The thought made him visibly cringe, ears flattening against his head. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that Alfred was in love with the woman he brought home that night. He had to be, seeing as he was so protective of her. Arthur wasn't shocked. Alfred was a man, it was obvious that he'd love women. Arthur growled quietly to himself, then noticed his action and sighed, drooping his head lower in shame. Despite his torment, he couldn't say he disliked Alfred at - in fact, he was jealous – but it was pointless. Why try and fight for his love if it only drove them further apart?

Sometimes, Arthur's mind drifted to other things. In the end, he never found the shadow he chased that night, nor did he know who lead Alfred's brother into the forest. It bothered him greatly. Who was doing it? Why were they doing this?

He was distracted from his thoughts by the soft sound of something – no, someone – landing on the dirt floor behind him.

_Thump._

Arthur didn't turn around. He could sense who it was.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Déjà vu. Haven't I answered that question before?"

Arthur's ears twitched in anger and he turned to glare at Alistair. It came off infinitely weaker than it normally was. Alistair smiled, swishing his singular ginger tail behind him. Poison green eyes stared at Arthur, filled with mockery. He was clothed as Arthur was, in worn, grey shorts taken from a pile of clothes 'borrowed' from an old hunter's camp, and no shirt.

"Heh, can't a brother come and visit once in a while?"

Arthur sneered not fooled by such a simple lie. He hadn't seen Alistair since the day Alfred returned. The memory made him shudder. Still, he kept a brave face.

"I didn't know you were so family oriented," he retorted.

"Heh, there are a lot of things you don't know about me, _my gracious sibling_." The last few words leaked sarcasm.

Arthur growled, but didn't move any further from his spot. Ever since Alistair was born, he always disliked Arthur. Arthur always assumed it was because he wasn't the oldest child and that he would grow out of it. Instead, it became worse over the past few years. Fortunately, he normally kept his distance from Arthur, only coming occasionally to insult him before skulking off again into the deep part of the forest, doing lord knew what.

Arthur turned around again, continuing to look into the water, hoping that Alistair would lose interest and go away.

No such luck.

"Oh, is the king pouting now? Hah, what a pitiful Kitsune you are."

Arthur he could felt himself twitching with anger. His brother's insults annoyed him even when he was having a good day, but, with the current circumstances, he found it difficult not to pound his half-brother's face in.

"So, I heard you were letting your duties slip."

The twitching increased.

"I also heard you started getting depressed all of a sudden. Are you that weak?"

Arthur's hands balled into fists.

"Also, rumour has it that you had a fight with that human of yours."

The flames of rage started to ignite in Arthur's body. Alistair leant down and whispered into his ear. Cool mocking laced his words.

"I also heard that he's going to marry the human woman now."

Arthur roared, jumping up from his position as Alistair stepped back away from him. As he turned, realization hit him.

"It was you."

Alistair didn't seem scared at all.

"Took you long enough, Artie."

It was the last straw. All the sadness and anguish Arthur felt turned into rage, blinding him as he charged. Alistair smiled, tail swishing in excitement. Arthur raised his arm to punch him, but found instead his fist held by Alistair's hand. Alistair spun them around, using Arthur's lack of balance and the momentum from his charge to fling him into a tree on the edge of the clearing. Arthur winced as the rough bark collided with his back, causing multiple lacerations to appear, leaking blood down his back.

Alistair laughed.

"You're so weak, Artie, barely stronger than a kitten."

Arthur growled, pulling himself up. Blue flames sprouted from the palms of his hands. His mind was in a flurry.

_It was him, all this time? Why?_

It didn't matter. All that mattered to Arthur was defeating his brother and making him pay for what he had done. With that, he charged again, fox fire in hand.

* * *

Alfred was breaking every speed limit known to man, but he didn't care. Since his conversation with Kat, his thoughts had become clear. He had a goal now, something he needed to do. He had to apologize to Arthur and tell him he would listen to his side of the story. The car's engine roared, encouraging him as he neared his house. Alfred's heart beat louder than a drum and he could feel its rapid pulse run through his entire body. He didn't even care about his brother; he would have to lie again to cover for his early arrival home.

As he turned onto the penultimate stretch of road that would lead to his house, he glanced to his right into the darkness of the forest.

_I'm coming Arthur. Just wait for m-_

His thought was cut off by a small movement in the trees. In the darkness, Alfred thought he was just imagining things. The first movement was followed by another and another and another. Alfred slammed his foot on the brake, bringing the car to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. He didn't even notice its awkward positioning as he got out to fully observe the haunting sight before him.

The forest was covered in a raging stream of moving bodies. Birds flew around the trunks of the trees, taking evasive manoeuvres to avoid other creatures jumping from branch to branch. They ran along the forest floor too, foxes and rabbits running side-by-side. Some of them Alfred couldn't recognize as natural. Small, insect-like humanoids flew with the airborne animals, giving off a faint glow. They all ran in the same direction. Alfred shifted his head in the direction they were coming, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. His blood ran cold.

Deep in the forest, he could see a small cloud of smoke slither through the trees, chasing the inhabitants of the forest. He knew what that meant. Where there is smoke there is-

"Arthur!"

Adrenaline flooded his system and Alfred barrelled into the trees against the tide of bodies trying to escape the smoke and fire. There was only one explanation. Arthur was in danger. Alfred ran deeper into the forest, the world around him forgotten as he followed the smoke to its source.

Whatever was happening, he just hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Arthur groaned, clutching his right arm as he sank to his knees. The last throw had wrenched his arm and pain thundered through it. His body was covered in various cuts, gashes and lacerations. He tried to plug his wounds with his tails, but he was still become light-headed. Around him several fires burned, lit by fix fire, catching onto the old dry wood of the trees and growing in size and heat.

"Pathetic~"

Arthur glared at Alistair, but could do no more. Besides a few scratches, Arthur hadn't been able to _touch_ his brother, let alone defeat him. Arthur was too weak; he hadn't eaten much of anything since Alfred has shouted at him.

Alistair chuckled darkly.

"You give up. I didn't know our _king_ was such a pitiable excuse for a fighter."

Arthur paused.

"Why?" he finally asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why do this? Why go to all this trouble?" It was a simple question and the only one Arthur could think to ask. He couldn't fight anymore, that was for certain.

"Oh, you want to hear my story? Why I made that idiotic crush of yours hate your guts? Why I put you through two weeks of absolute misery? Why I did it?"

Arthur stayed silent, partially because his thoughts were becoming muddled in his pain. Alistair picked up the conversation.

"Because I hate you. I hate you more than anyone. And I wanted revenge."

Arthur groaned in pain, but didn't respond.

"Heh, weak. You were always the weak one. We were always stronger than you, better with magic than you, more well-liked than you. And I was the best. It should have been obvious for me to be the king. But I am only a half-blood. One of the bastard sons. Ever since you started, I've wanted to defeat you. Take away your stubbornness and pride and leave you bare for the whole world to see your weakness."

Arthur hadn't moved since Alistair had begun speaking. He'd disliked him for all this time. For such a stupid reason?

"Then why didn't the others help you?"

Alistair's smile faded and Arthur knew he'd hit a fault in his plan.

"They… had become poisoned by you. They told me it didn't matter and I would be happy if I just let it go." he growled. "They are weak too." He shook his head, as if trying to shake off the image in his mind of his half-brothers refusing to help him in his revenge. He continued, "It took me a while to figure out the best way to defeat you and cause you as much pain as I could. I led that man's stupid brother here, knowing you'd attack him out of jealousy. Making that human hate you was so easy! Make you chase after me and scare that broad and it was done. I waited for two weeks to let the despair sink in and here I am. Here to finish the job. By killing you and taking your place. So, do you get it now, _brother_? My perfect plan."

There was a long pause in which Alistair seemed to be basking in his own victory.

Arthur snickered. "Heh. More like amateur."

Alistair growled as he looked down at Arthur.

"What?"

"You heard me-," Arthur looked up, mirth flickering in his eyes. "- amateur, novice-level, a child could think of better."

"My plan was per-"

"No, it wasn't. Firstly, you couldn't persuade your own _brothers_ to help you. It took you years to figure this plan out? How slow must you be? Even then, you fail with the first attempt. Hurriedly, realizing you'd failed, you came up with a new plan. No. I bet you didn't even do that. You must have been following Alfred, watching his moves for anything you could use against me. It was desperation that lead you to your second plot."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Maybe, but, instead of capitalizing and ending it quickly, you chose to wait two weeks."

"To make you suffer."

"Or to weaken me. You say you're stronger than me. Back when we were children that was true. But you had to wait two weeks so I was weak enough that you'd be in with a chance of defeating me. Truth is, you were scared. Scared of losing."

Arthur could see Alistair lock his jaw and narrow his eyes in fury. He only voiced baseless conjecture, but by his brother's expression, he seemed to be hitting at least some of the right marks.

"You wanted to show the world my weakness. Heh. All you did, _brother_ , was prove yours."

"Silence!"

Alistair dashed forward and brought a fist down on the crown of Arthur's head. He collapsed onto the ground.

"Good luck running your mouth when you're in hell!"

Arthur shifted his head up, watching as Alistair formed a ball of fox-fire in his hand and aimed it at his face. It would be a fatal shot. In that moment, confronting his own death scared Arthur, but he was not in the dregs of despair. Hearing Alistair's story had cheered him up, if only slightly. He felt oddly at peace.

_I'm sorry I couldn't say sorry to you Alfred. But, at least, you'll be happy now._

Suddenly, a shout rang through the clearing that made his heart sink.

"Arthur!"

* * *

Alfred charged at the ginger-haired fox-man. The combination of the surprise attack and his overwhelming strength allowed him to topple the man over and send him flying half-way across the clearing.

Alfred's face was black with soot and smoke and his clothes were torn and charred at the edges. Sadly, he had been right. He had followed the smoke for several minutes, hoping beyond hope that it was anything other than what he predicted. When, he first saw the flickering flames and the other fox-man, he knew he was right. Arthur was in danger.

He rushed to Arthur's side, kneeling down in front of him to check his injuries. Alfred could already tell they were bad. If Alfred didn't get Arthur out there and patched up, he didn't know if he would survive.

"Arthur? Can you hear me? I'm going to get you out of here."

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, Arthur's ears twitched and he turned his head to look up at Alfred. He was hesitant.

"Al…fie?"

"Yes, it's me," Alfred said softly. At least he wasn't too late.

"Nice to meet you."

Alfred jerked, jumping to his feet. He turned toward the voice. It was man he had pushed away from Arthur! Ginger hair scruffy, and eyes poisonous. As he walked toward Alfred, his single tail swayed from side to side.

"We haven't been formally introduced, I understand."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Alistair Kirkland. Half-brother of that miserable pile you are tending to." He waved derisively toward Arthur, with a devilish smile. "I'm slightly sad you came here tonight. It seems my plan didn't work after all."

Alfred's eyes widened.

"You?"

"Me. But, now that you're here…" He dashed forward with lightning speed, whispering into Alfred's ear before he could react. "I can kill you too."

Alfred was barely able to block the fist that flew to his left. He winced at the pain it caused, extremely strong for a human, but still much weaker than most mythical beings.

The fight continued, Alistair throwing punches with Alfred on the defensive. Arthur lay on the ground, unable to move because of his own injuries.

"You humans are so pathetic. I don't even know how you could have killed so many of our kind when you can't even defend yourself from a half-blood."

Alfred couldn't respond, pain thumping through his arms as Alistair beat him back with every punch and slash.

"Heh, can't even speak? Oh well, time to end this."

Alfred had been so focused on protecting his upper body that his lower half was unprotected. Alistair took that advantage and spun on his heel, preforming a roundhouse kick to Alfred's legs, forcing him to go down.

He then grabbed Alfred by the collar of his shirt and dragged him off the ground. He smiled as he held him aloft.

"It was fun. But it's time for you to die."

Alistair showed Alfred his palm as slowly a ball of blue fire formed in it. Alfred struggled, but couldn't free himself from his iron grip.

"Goodbye."

Alistair brought the ball to Alfred's chest.

It was like being burned and struck with lightning simultaneously. Alfred screamed as the orb touched him, instantly burning a hole in his clothes. Alfred's body jerked violently as the orb faded, melding with the skin.

"No!" Arthur screamed.

Alfred was thrown across the clearing and landed unceremoniously on the hard ground. The fire coursed through his veins, gripping his heart tightly. His sight started to fade. He closed his eyes for a moment and then Arthur was there, above him.

_He must have moved…_

"Alfred! Alfie! Don't die! Don't you dare die on me!" Arthur sounded distraught. He was trying not to cry. Alfred smiled, despite knowing he was about to die.

"You… suck at hiding your emotions." He caressed Arthur's cheek with his hand. That broke the flood-gates and suddenly Arthur was sobbing, holding his hand to his cheek.

"Alfred…"

"I'm… sorry."

"For what?" Arthur looked at Alfred, "there's nothing to apologize for."

"I didn't… listen to you."

"Then you can apologize later. When we're safe."

Alfred must have been crying too, because his sight was getting all blurry. He couldn't see the fire clearly anymore, only the dim flicker of orange and red. Arthur was just about clear, but he too was fading. Fading to black.

"Art…ie…I'm…home."

Those were Alfred's last words. His hand fell from Arthur's cheek. He couldn't feel or hear anything, but for a moment, he swore he saw something white. Flickering like fire. He had time to think about only one thing.

_I'll miss you._


	18. How I Died

The space between life and death was empty and pitch black. I had no idea how long I floated there, unable to move or speak. All I could do was think.

I wondered if Matthew will be sad. Heh. He'll probably just be sad that he'll have to cook for himself from now on. I wondered about my friends and family. How would father and mother react to the news of my strange death? How would Kat react? I felt guilty when I imagined her crying about me. I wondered if I could have acted differently and change my fate. Could I have avoided death by listening to Arthur? Could I have beaten Alistair? Grimly, I decided, probably not. I would have been defeated, one way or another. Mostly, though, I had two major things on my mind.

What was happening to Arthur right now? And, if I was dead, how was I still able to think?

_I wonder if he's still alive. He looked bad when I found him, so…_

* * *

Suddenly, the blackness flickered, like an old TV being turned on. Trees sprang up around him, bark blackened by fire. A small pool of water faded into his vision, reflecting the night sky filled with stars. Fireflies flicked on, flying around and providing a dim light. Alfred realized it was the clearing, through it didn't look anything like before. The fires were all out.

_What?_

Had his mind conjured this image in answer to his question?

_What happened to the fire? Where are Arthur and Alistair?_

A moment passed and the image flickered again. This time, he saw himself. He was lying on the floor, a hole in his shirt where Alistair's attack had burnt through it and killed him. Despite seeing his own dead body on the floor, Alfred was more interested and shocked by the creature who sat by his side.

It was a fox, but not like any fox he had ever seen before. Its fur was snow white and it had two tails. Alfred realized that this must be what a Kitsune looked like. But why was it here? Where had Arthur and Alistair disappeared to? The image did not change again, but instead moved closer to the two. Alfred noticed that one of the fox's tails was limp, unlike the other, which swayed slowly. The fox moved from one side of Alfred to the other and Alfred was struck by the realization that one of the tails was broken, as the fox dragged it along the floor instead of lifting it up. He felt sad for the critter, but this wasn't getting him anywhere.

_Where is he? Please, just show me that he isn't dead. Please… Please let me speak to him one more time._

Suddenly, the image responded, as if Alfred's plea sent a shockwave through it. The pool disappeared in an instant, as did the trees and fireflies. The entire world seemed to fade into black. The last things Alfred saw fade away were his body and the fox.

_That's it? He thought You're going to leave me with just that!?_

The fox turned around and looked at him. Not at his body, but at Alfred himself.

He had brilliant green eyes.

"I'm alive, idiot."

Then the world flashed white.

* * *

_BeepBeepBeepBEEPBEEP_

Alfred jumped up in shock, taking in a deep breath. His lungs felt like they hadn't worked in years and he coughed violently as the air began flowing again. He noticed, after he stopped spluttering, the rapid beeping a machine. Soon, the room came into focus. To his right he saw a heart-rate monitor. The walls were white and sterile, with a few odd pieces of equipment and furniture lying around. There was also a large window, which looked out over more buildings. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

"A…hospital?" He croaked.

Only upon hearing the crackling of his voice, did Alfred look down at himself. He was sitting up on a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown.

_What happened? Didn't I die?_

_Tap. Tap._

A soft knocking came from the door. Alfred shifted his head and watched as a nurse opened the door, poking her head inside before stepping into the room. She was a homely woman with a gentle smile and soft voice.

"It is good that you are awake Mr. Jones."

"I'm sorry, but, what happened?" Alfred asked, hoping this nurse could fill in some of the gaps.

"Oh. Don't worry Mr. Jones. Sometimes a patient's memory takes a few minutes to come back."

"Could you tell me now? It's important."

"As you wish." the nurse replied, before explaining what had happened.

Apparently, a week ago, Alfred was caught in a forest fire, presumably set by some poachers. He was found by his brother in a clearing with multiple lacerations and a severe burn on his chest. The burn was so severe that skin graft surgery was undertaken. Mysteriously, however, the fire, which was witnessed by his brother, was no-where to be seen.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me Mr. Jones. Now, I have something to tell you."

"Hmm?" Alfred hummed, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrows. What else was there to say?

"You have a visitor. They are an old friend of yours."

_An old friend?_

The nurse turned around and spoke to someone who was outside of the room.

"You can come in now, Mr. Kirkland."

 _Kirkland? Arthur!_ Alfred thought, fixing his eyes on the door.

At first, nothing happened. Then, however, a figure stepped through the door. He had a lean figure and wore an old slightly torn pair of jeans and a worn shirt, which he didn't look too comfortable in. He had a shock of messy sandy blond hair and brilliant emerald green eyes. He had human ears and no tail. His expression was one of grim determination.

"Ar…thur?"

Suddenly, the determination on Arthur's face fizzled out like it never existed, instead replaced with a nervous anxiety. The nurse, incorrectly assuming it was nerves from seeing an in-patient, comforted him.

"It's alright Mr. Kirkland, there is nothing to be nervous about."

Arthur turned towards her with wide eyes, then smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you, Miss…?"

"Nurse Smith." She said, before turning to the door. "I'll leave you two to catch up."

With that, the nurse exited the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Arthur and Alfred alone in the hospital room.

The atmosphere was palpable.

For what seemed like years, a heavy silence chocked them. Arthur was the one to break it.

"H-hi. Alfred."

Alfred exploded.

"Hi! I almost die and all you can say to me is 'Hi'! How about explaining why they found me in a clearing where there was no fire? How I'm not dead?! Why you've got no tails?!"

Arthur jumped and looked like he was about to run away. Alfred stopped his ranting immediately and took a deep breath.

"Sorry. It's just… I'm so confused right now."

There was a long pause in which no-one said anything, and then Arthur spoke again, approaching Alfred slowly.

"I'm sorry too. I dragged you into my family issues and almost got you killed."

"So, I wasn't dead?"

"…Well…"

"Arthur. Was. I. Dead?"

"It's more complicated than that."

Alfred groaned, flopping down onto the bed.

"Great… so now I'm a zombie."

"What are you talking about? Zombies don't exist. Look! What I mean is you weren't fully dead yet… But you weren't really alive either."

That explained the floating.

"Okay, whatever. What else? Can you bring just anything back to life?"

"No…" Arthur responded. He was beside Alfred now and sat in a chair set up next to the bed.

"So… what happened?"

"Would you believe me… if I said that kitsunes can increase their power ten-fold?"

"I believe that you exist at all, don't I?"

Arthur chuckled.

"Touché. Well, it turns out when under great strain, we can activate powers normally beyond our limitations."

"It turns out?"

"I didn't know about it before. It only happens for a few of us, I think?"

"So that's how you did it?"

"Yeah."

"And the fire? Your brother? What about them?"

"The same thing. I don't think my brother will disturb us again."

Alfred's eyes widened.

"You-"

"No! He ran away, before that could happen."

"Oh, that's good."

Alfred was frankly amazed. Arthur had single-handedly revived him, put out an entire forest fire and defeated his half-brother? There had to be a catch.

An image from earlier popped into his head and he turned to Arthur, looking at him with his most serious expression.

"Your tails." He stated.

"Huh? Well, it took me a while but I can hide them now with mag…"

"Show me your tails."

Arthur stopped, sighed and then closed his eyes. Slowly, his fox ears sprang out from his hair, like they'd been lying against it. He reached around his back and pulled his single tail. Alfred's eyes widened. Arthur explained.

"Magic is stored in our tails. The more we have, the more powerful we are. I used too much."

He didn't say anything else, but Alfred got the message.

Without thinking, Alfred grabbed Arthur and pulled him down, hugging him.

"I'm sorry."

Arthur stiffened in his arms, before relaxing and hugging him back. Alfred could feel him crying into his shoulder.

* * *

"I was really scared I'd never see you again." Arthur mumbled after he'd stopped crying.

"Well, I'm alive. Thanks to you. Thank you, Arthur."

"Yeah." Arthur said, pulling away from Alfred finally, attempting to clean himself up again.

There was a brief pause in which both seemed content, until Arthur broke it.

"Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you really forget me when you moved to America?"

Alfred winced, as if the memories physically hurt him. Arthur noticed.

"Y-you don't have to say if you don't w…"

"No! I need to. You've told me about your past, so I'll tell you mine," Alfred took a deep breath and then began. "I believed in you. I was a kid, with childish optimism. 'I'll be back in a few years', I thought. 'I won't even notice'. I'd never seen much of the outside world. After I went to America, I was bombarded."

"Bombarded?"

"New schools, new friends, new enemies. I lived in the city and everything was so different. I got teased for believing in the supernatural. They called me 'Alfie: The boy who could see fairies'! It didn't bother me, until I got to high-school."

"What happened, then?"

"Reality, or at least what I _thought_ was reality dawned on me. You, your brother, werewolves, gnomes, fairies. They couldn't exist! They defied science! After that, after everything. I just… gave up. So many years had passed and I barely remembered your face."

Alfred glanced at Arthur. He was listening with deep concentration.

"For years, I denied that you ever existed. You were a mirage, conceived of an active imagination. Then, I found that letter."

"A letter?"

"Young me was smart. He wrote a letter to his older self to remind him not to forget. Though it took seeing you again for me to accept it was real."

"So, it's fine now. Right?"

"No… it's not. Arthur, don't you realize that I completely rejected you? You and that promise?"

Alfred stopped. He felt guilty and only now was it dawning on him. Arthur had every right to be mad with him.

"I do. But I don't care."

"What?"

"Alfred. I _love_ you. I always did! Even if you did forget me and that promise, you still came back. You could have left me alone and never talked to me. But you did! You even cooked for me. What I'm trying to say is that it's in the past. And I'll always love you, even if you never speak to me again after this."

Alfred quirked his eyebrows.

"After this?"

Arthur became serious.

"Alfred, you almost died because of me. You couldn't find happiness because of me and while I don't think my brother is coming back, he may or someone else will! I don't want you to get hurt. So after today, you're never going to see me again."

Alfred jumped up from his bed. His chest hurt, though he didn't know whether that was from his wound or something else.

"You can't be serious!"

"Alfre-"

"I… You and I… We went through all of this. Everything! And now you're going to leave me to 'protect' me?! It's like when we were kids!"

Alfred's heart was beating fast. He felt light-headed and giddy at the same time. It was a feeling he'd never experienced before.

"But I have to."

"No! I don't want that! I don't want us to repeat the same mistakes! Arthur, I…"

_I… I… what? What do I feel?_

"I want to speak to you."

"Huh?"

"When I get out of here, I'm going to see you again. Meet me in the clearing. I have something I want to say."

Arthur was astonished. For a while, the air became heavy again, before he smiled.

"Of course."

Arthur got out of the chair and started walking towards the window.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, where do you think?"

"Through the window?"

"If I go back the way I came in… there's a risk."

"Of what?"

"…I'll tell you later."

Arthur got to the window and opened it, hiding his tail and ears. Before he stepped out, he looked at Alfred and gave him a sweet smile. Alfred felt his heart skip, though he didn't quite know why.

"I'll see you later. Alfie."

With that, Arthur left, slipping through the window.

A few minutes later, the door opened again and Matthew stepped in with the Nurse Smith in front of him. She was speaking to him.

"Mr. Jones is currently seeing a guest right now."

She stopped when she saw the empty room.

"Well, he was. Mr. Jones, where did your visitor go?"

"Oh! Uhm! He got… picked up, uh, by another nurse? Yeah." Alfred lied.

"Oh. Well. Are you su-"

"Alfie!" Matthew exclaimed, running across the room and throwing himself onto Alfred. "Bro, don't scare me like that. I almost lost my cook and my brother!"

"Nice to see you like my cooking more than my company." Alfred grumbled, wincing at the pain his brother was causing him by lying on his chest.

"You know I'm just kidding! Anyway, they said you'd be getting out of this joint in few days. The company sends their love and blah-de-blah."

Alfred ignored the rest of his brother's ranting at the mention of him leaving. He stared out of the open window and felt like all his worries had leapt out of it. In their place, new worries sprang up. But he didn't mind. After all, he was technically a new man. He'd died and been reborn.

_Artie… I'm coming home. For real this time._

And that is the story of how the old Alfred F. Jones died.


	19. Simple Little Words

A few days later, Alfred was allowed to go home with Matthew. He was told the surgery had been successful, though there would be a patch of discoloured skin on his chest for the rest of his life. He was told to call if there were any complications and to rest and relax for the next week. Alfred barely heard any of the advice the physician gave him.

_I want to speak to you_

But what did he want to say?

 _What's the problem?_ he thought _It's obvious what you want to say._

It wasn't. At least, not for Alfred. 'I want us to be friends again'? That wasn't it. 'I want to keep my promise'? It wasn't that either. It was something else, something much more complicated.

_AGH! Why does he always make me feel like this!?_

The harder he tried to find the right words, the more they evaded him. They were in there, buried in the depths of his mind, the words to describe this feeling. This horrible, detestable, wonderful feeling that made his heart soar but heavy at the same time. He just had to find them.

"Alfie! Wake up!"

* * *

Alfred jumped back into reality. He looked over at Matthew, sitting beside him in the taxi.

"What?" Alfred said, glaring at his brother.

Matthew smiled, placing his hands out in front of him in a mock gesture of surrender.

"Makin' sure you're alive, Bro. It'd be a bitch if you died now."

Alfred groaned and massaged his temple.

"Show some respect to the injured."

"Heh, why? Since when did stupidity earn respect?"

"Hey, where do _you_ get off calling _me_ 'stupid'?" Alfred asked. "You ran towards the fire."

"I thought you'd be there."

"Oh, really? And you knew, how?"

Matthew looked out the window and back at Alfred. An odd expression crossed his face, like he was trying to figure out a complex riddle.

"I don't know. _Something…_ told me to go?" He sounded unsure.

Alfred raised his eyebrows. Had Arthur done that too? Before he could inquire further, Matthew changed subject.

"Are you gay?"

"Huh…?"

"Dude, it's all around the office! You dumped Kat!"

"What!?" He'd completely forgotten about that.

"Yeah, that's what I said! How could you!? I mean, dude, her breasts put Katy Perry to shame! Even her brother, gave you the go-ahead to tap that! And you leave her?"

"I didn't 'leave her'!" Alfred exclaimed. Honestly, he should have expected this. He supposed he was lucky Ivan wasn't punching him in the face right now.

* * *

The brothers argued for about five more minutes, until they were finally stopped by the taxi driver.

"Sorry to stop your engaging conversation, but we're here."

They both stopped mid-sentence, glaring at each other. Though the argument had ended, nothing was resolved. The only thing Alfred told Matthew was that it wouldn't work between him and Kat. Alfred knew Matthew wanted to know more, but he couldn't tell him anything else. He didn't want to think what Matthew would do.

Matthew tore his eyes away and looked at the driver, smiling again.

"You know how brothers are. Always teasing each other." Matthew reached over and noogied Alfred, before reaching into his trouser pocket and drawing out the fare (plus extra to stop him grumbling). Alfred grumbled and opened the taxi door, slowly exiting the car, and looked up at his house. The question of what he wanted to say to Arthur popped up again, but before he could sink back into his thoughts, Matthew came around and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on. The doc said you need to rest and get your strength back." He sounded kind, if somewhat patronizing, but Alfred would need to be on guard whenever that topic came up.

As the taxi drove back down the woodland path, Matthew helped Alfred to the front door, carrying him slightly on his shoulder. It was embarrassing, but Alfred knew it was because the doctors told Matthew that the skin graft was still sore and any heavy movement in that area could cause pain, plus, it was nice to have Matthew show some concern for him. Matthew unlocked the front door and they walked inside. Alfred took a deep breath. The earthy scent of wood and dust filled his lungs, telling him he was home.

Alfred guided them towards the stairs, though before he approached the first step Matthew put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure? The doc said it'd be better to sleep downstairs."

"That couch would break my back. Anyway, I just want to sleep in my own bed right now."

Matthew grumbled but they walked upstairs anyway. Once they'd gotten to Alfred's room, Alfred changed into his pyjamas with Matthew waited outside. He laid down in the soft bed and sighed. Matthew walked in, looking down at the ground with a grimace, which was odd since Matthew was never normally serious about anything. Alfred was concerned. Despite everything, he didn't hate his brother. He liked him, even if they weren't as close as they used to be. He also felt he owed him for coming to his aid.

"Matthew?"

"Hmm?" Matthew hummed, looking at Alfred.

"Thanks for helping me."

Matthew blushed, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck for a moment before recovering himself, grinning.

"Of course! Haha! My instincts are the best you know. Just follow your instincts, that's what I always say!"

He sauntered out of the bedroom, talking to himself about some new movie he wanted to watch as he walked downstairs.

* * *

Alfred waited for ten minutes, looking up at the ceiling, listening intently to the sounds coming from the living-room. When he heard the pleasant jingle of an opening theme, he slowly got up, hyperaware of the creaking floor. He padded quietly over to his chest-of-drawers and grabbed a set of comfortable clothes. After changing, he walked towards the window that looked out over the forest and sighed.

_Sorry, Matthew._

He carefully opened the window and looked down to find exactly what he was looking for. A drain pipe. He'd used it to meet Arthur in the past and hoped to god it would hold his weight now. He gingerly manoeuvred himself backwards out of the window, wincing as the motion caused his chest to burn with pain. He wrapped his hands and feet around the pipe, holding on for dear life. He glanced once more into his room, then began his slow descent.

About three minutes later he was three quarters of the way down and, despite the pain in his chest, felt he was going to make it. That was when he lost his grip. Alfred fell the remaining five feet and landed heavily. He arched his back in seething pain and his mouth was filled with the taste of coppery blood where he'd bitten his tongue. It was a small price to pay for not yelling out. He sat down for a while, recovering his nerves as the pain in his chest and back died down to a slight throb. He really hoped he hadn't opened his wound. Eventually, he got up and turned around, looking into the dark forest.

_You could not go, you know?_

"I know… But I have to."

He marched into the forest, memory guiding him back to the clearing.

He could smell the clearing before he could see it. Scents of ash and smoke hit his nose and his chest throbbed. He continued on and eventually saw the damage. He placed a gentle hand on one of the charred trees, the flaky bark crumbling beneath his touch. It looked like a war-zone. Even the ground itself was fading into the softly blowing wind, reminding Alfred of his dream in the hospital-bed when he'd been so close to death. He shuddered.

He stumbled in and looked around. Arthur was nowhere to be seen.

"Arthur!" He shouted. Where was he? Was he coming?

"I'm here."

Alfred turned to see Arthur, tail and all, walking into the clearing, looking at the burnt trees with dismay.

"It looks terrible, doesn't it?" Arthur said. "I was supposed to protect this place, but now look at it. It'll take ages to repair itself."

 _Repair?_ Alfred questioned, but decided not to ask, assuming it was something magical.

"Arthur…" he said, stepping forward.

Arthur suddenly looked at him. He stepped closer, causing Alfred to step back. Arthur stood only inches away from him, his warm breath hitting Alfred's collar, then stopped, raising his hand and putting it on Alfred's chest. Alfred was about to ask what Arthur was doing, until he saw a blue light come from his hand.

"You're hurt," Arthur murmured.

Alfred felt the burning pain disappear instantly, replaced with a calming emptiness. He grabbed Arthur's arm and pulled it away.

"Don't!"

Arthur's eyes widened and the blue light stopped. His ears flattened and his eyes became shiny, before he clenched his fists, scrunched up his face and glared at Alfred.

"Why? Do you not want to be touched by a disgusting person like me!?"

Arthur's tone was aggressive, but he was about to cry.

"No, it's not that! It's just… I don't want you to waste your power on me. It'll heal on its own, don't worry."

He smiled at Arthur, hoping it would calm him. Instead, tears seeped out of Arthur's eyes and down his face. Alfred tensed, before beginning to snicker.

"W-why are you laughing?"

"Because you are just too cute."

"You're cruel." Arthur said, tears still running down his cheeks.

Before Arthur could step away, Alfred drew him closer and wrapped his arms around him, encompassing him.

"Hey!" Arthur shouted indignantly.

"Sorry." Alfred apologized, stepping back.

"What the hell, you idiot."

"Hey! Why are you calling me an idiot? You're a cry-baby. Besides, you liked it."

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did. Your tail's wagging."

Arthur gasped and looked behind him, trying to hold his tail still. Alfred laughed again.

* * *

"So…" Arthur said, after Alfred stopped laughing and let him go. "What did you want to say to me?"

Alfred felt the colour drain from his face. He'd forgotten about that. His chest started hurting again, but it felt different this time.

"I…um."

_Come on, brain. Tell me._

"Well…"

_Tell me._

"Um…"

_Tell me!_

"Would you, Arthur Kirkland, like to go out with me?"

_What?_

The silence seemed to last an eternity.

"I mean, um, you don't have to!" Alfred exclaimed, trying to recover his lost dignity. Why did he say that!? His heart was thumping loudly, so much he felt his whole chest shudder, and in that moment he realized why. He loved Arthur, if only faintly. He stepped back, thinking of running away before he felt small hands grab his shirt and pull him back. He turned back.

"W-what does that mean?" Arthur asked, blushing to his ears.

Alfred couldn't say anything for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"It means I love you and I want you to be with me."

That was all Arthur needed. He moved closer and placed his soft lips tentatively against Alfred's, melding with his and melting his heart. He grabbed Arthur as though he were a life-line and held on for dear life, deepening the kiss when Arthur put his own arms around him. It felt spicy yet sweet, like it had the last time, but a thousand fold. God knows how long they stayed like that, but when they separated for air, they were both panting and so close they were almost intertwined.

"I love you, you clumsy buffoon."

Arthur smiled at him and nuzzled into his neck, his ears tickling Alfred's chin. Alfred felt his heart explode into a thousand pieces and buried himself into Arthur's dirty hair. In those few words, all his troubles slipped away.

"I l-love you too, you cry-baby." The phrase was foreign but felt right all the same. "Sorry it wasn't a proposal"

"I don't care. We can work up to that, darling. Also, I am not a cry-baby."

"Hmm-hmm, sure you're not."

Arthur wiggled back slightly and looked Alfred dead in the eyes.

"Could a cry-baby do this?"

He took Alfred's lips again and Alfred reciprocated. He was anxious and curious. What had he started? Where would he end up? It didn't matter. He was happy and in love.

* * *

Meanwhile, in his sock drawer back home, lay a small letter.

…that person is a boy named Arthur Kirkland. I made a promise with him and no matter what, I'm going to keep it. I don't want him to be lonely ever again, so big me, when you read this letter, could you go up to him and say 'I love you' for me. I know he'll do something cute.

Fond wishes,

Alfie.


End file.
